(1 ^1)5 ) a 7 

Book 



1 



i 




ILLUSTRATED BY PEN AND PENCIL. 



BY THE 

REV. SAMUEL MANNING, LL.D., 

AUTHOR OF "ITALIAN PICTURES," "SWISS PICTURES," AND 
" SPANISH PIC TURES." 




" Those holy fields, 
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed, 
For our advantage, on the bitter cross." 



LONDON: 
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; 

56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD; 
AND 164, PICCADILLY. 
BRIGHTON: 31, WESTERN ROAD MANCHESTER: 100, CORPORATION STREET. 






HE journey of which a brief account is 
given in the following pages was under- 
taken in the early part of 1873. The 
object of the writer was to compare the 
Land and the Book, and by an exami- 
nation of the topography of Palestine 
to illustrate the histories of Scripture. 
Had any doubt existed in his own mind 
J as to the veracity of those histories, 
■ it must have been dispelled by the 
minute agreement which he traced be- 
tween the indications of the narrative 
and the physical geography of the 
country. No "fable," however "cun- 
ningly devised," no myth or legend coming into existence at a later 
age, could have adapted itself so precisely to the topographical details 
of the scene. The main design of the present volume has been to 
trace these coincidences, and thus to elucidate and confirm the biblical 
narrative. Whilst he has availed himself of all the help he could gain 
from the writings of former travellers, he has in no case depended 



f 



PREFACE. 



upon them, but endeavoured, by a personal and careful inspection 
of the sites, to arrive at an independent and accurate conclusion. 

In the Illustrations, which form so large a part of the present 
volume, fidelity rather than artistic effect has been aimed at. Many 
of the engravings are from drawings made on the spot, but a greater 
number are from photographs. Those of Messrs. Bergheim and 
Nicodemus of Jerusalem, and Madame Bonfils of Beyrout, have 
been largely used for this purpose ; and the writer desires to express 
his gratitude for the liberality with which the Committee of the 
Palestine Exploration Fund have placed their admirable series at 
his disposal. 

The Maps are enlarged by permission of Messrs. W. and A. 
Keith Johnston, from their Royal Atlas Map of Syria, which for 
correctness and fulness of detail is worthy of the high reputation 
they have long enjoyed as chartographers. 



ITist si Illustrations. 



Range of Hermon, near Banias Frontispiece. 

Village of Siloam, and Valley of the Kedron ' . . . . Preface. 



(Southern Py\EE$Ti^E, or. ^ud/ejk. 

JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



Map of the District 


page 10 


Southern Wall of the Temple Area Showing the 




Head-Piece — Our Camp .... 


ii 


opening of " Robinson's Arch" . . page 27 


Initial — Eastern Water-Seller 


ii 




29 


Jaffa, from the North 


12 


Solomon's Pools . . . . 


3 1 


Jaffa, from the Sea . ... 


15 


Ruins of Tekoa, on the way down to Hebron 


3 2 


Ploughing in Palestine ..... 


• 17 


Distant View of Hebron ..... 


33 




18 


Hebron, and Mosque over the Cave of Machpelah 


35 


German Colony near Jaffa .... 


• 19 


Pool of Hebron ....... 


3^ 




21 


Entrance to the Mosque over Machpelah 


37 


Aniwas, or Nicopolis ..... 


22 


Roof of the Mosque ...... 


.0 
3° 


Women of the Hill Country of Judaea 




Arrangement of Tombs in the Cave 


39 


Wady es-Sumt and Kulonia 


• 25 


Abraham's Oak, near Hebron .... 


40 


BETHLEHEM TO 


THE DEAD SEA. 




Head-Piece — Bethlehem .... 


41 


Church of the Nativity .... 


53 


Initial — The Dead Sea ..... 


■ 41 


Convent of Mar Saba . . ... 


55 


Gate of Bethlehem . . . 


42 


Wilderness of Judaea 


57 


Women of Bethlehem ..... 


■ 43 


Northern Shore of the Dead Sea . . . . 


59 


Shepherd of Bethlehem .... 


44 


Southern Shore of the Dead Sea 


■60 


Eastern Gleaners ...... 


• 45 




61 


Entrance to the Cave of Adullam 


47 


Approach to Engedi ...... 


63 


Interior of the Cave of Adullam 


. 48 


Makaur, the site of ancient Machaerus 


65 


Bethlehem, from the Shepherds' Field ^ 


49 


The Dead Sea, near Masada .... 


66 


Interior of a Khan ..... 


• 50 


Map of the Dead Sea . '■ . 


67 


Interior of the Church of the Nativity 


5 2 


The Well of Bethlehem 


68 


JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 




Head-Piece — Arabs of the Plain 


69 


Elisha's Fountain, near Jericho 


81 


Initial — Er Riha, near Jericho 


. 69 


Bathing-Place of Pilgrims on the Jordan 


82 


Plain of the Jordan, near Jericho 


70 


Ruined Aqueduct near Jericho .... 


83 


Arabs in the Plain of Jericho 


■ 71 




85 


Banks of the Jordan ..... 


73 


Church on the Summit of the Mount of Olives 


87 


Sketch Plan of the Jordan .... 


• 74 


St. Stephen's Gate ...... 


88 


Site of Ancient Jericho . 


75 








JERUSALEM. 




Head-Piece— Church of the Holy Sepulchre 


39 


Interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 


102 


Initial — Tomb of Absalom .... 


. 89 


Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre .... 


i°3 


Plan of Jerusalem .. 


90 


The Place of Scourging ..... 


104 


Ruins near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 


• 92 


Cave under the Church . . 


105 


Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives 


93 




106 


Walls of Jerusalem ..... 


• 95 


The Mosque of Omar . ..... 


109 


Street ol Modern Jerusalem 


96 


The Golden Gate . . • . . 


111 


Sketch Plan of the Site of Jerusalem . 


• 97 
98 


Projecting Stones of Robinson's Arch . 


112 


Entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 


Wailing-Place of the Jews .... 


113 


The Pool of Hezekiah 


• 99 


Jewish Almshouses . • « ■ 


115 


Plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 


IOI 


Pool of Bethesda ...... 


116 



7 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



JERUSALEM. Continued. 



Substructions under the Temple Area . page 117 
Temple Area and Mount of Olives . . . 118 
Tunnel and Shaft of the Palestine Exploration 

Fund outside the Temple Wall . . 120 
Garden of Gethsemane ...... 121 



Mount of Corruption ..... page 124 

Tomb of Zacharias ...... 125 

Aceldama . . . . . . . . 126 

Tomb of Helena ....... 127 

The Valley of Jehoshaphat . . . . 128 



CENTRAL PyV;LEj3TIJNE, OR. |3/JVIARI>. 
JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



Map of the District . 

Head-Piece . 

Initial — Mosque of David 

Jerusalem, from Scopus 

Ramah 



130 

131 
132 

«33 



Anathoth . . . . . . . 134 

Ruins of Bethel . . . . . . -137 

Stone Circle near Bethel . . . • . . 139 
Ruined Synagogue at Shiloh .... 141 

The Site of Shiloh ...... 142 



SHECHEM, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



Head-Piece — Road-side Wells .... 143 

Initial — Arab at Tent Door ..... 143 

Valley of Shechem, with Ebal and Gerizim . 144 
Jacob's Well and Joseph's Tomb . . . -145 
Nablus ........ 146 

Evening on a Housetop ..... 148 



Ruins on the Summit of Gerizim ... 151 

Cylinder enclosing the Samaritan Pentateuch . 154 

Translation of Inscriptions ..... 154 

Copy of a portion of the Samaritan Pentateuch . 155 

In a Bazaar . ■ . . • • • 158 

Gate at Nablus 159 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 





160 


Head-Dress of Egyptian Fellaheen 


170 


Initial — Ruined Church of St. John in Samaria 


. 160 


Plain of Esdraelon, with the Ruins of Jezreel . 


171 




162 




!72 


An Arab Story-Teller ... 


. 164 


Sketch Plan of the Esdraelon Plain and surrounding 




Ruins of the City of Samari.i .... 


165 


district from El-Muhrakah .... 


174 




. 166 


Monastery on Mount Carmel .... 


176 


Jenin, the ancient En-ganuim .... 


168 


Promontory of Carmel, from the Sea . 


178 



Northern, PyVLE^TijNE, or Galilee. 

SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH. 



Map of the District 180 

Head-Piece — Village of Nazareth . ■ . . 181 

Initial — Fountain of Mary at Nazarelh . . 181 

Tabor . . . . . . . . .183 

Nain 185 



Nazareth . . . . ... . • 187 

Cliff behind the Maronite Convent at Nazareth, the 

supposed " Rock of Precipitation " . . .189 
Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth . . 191 
Fountain at Cana ....... 194 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



Head-Piece 195 

Initial — Town and Lake of Tiberias . . . 195 

North Shore of the Lake, near Tell Hum . 196 

The Town of Tiberias ...... 199 

Magdala ........ 201 



Southern End of the Sea of Galilee . . . 202 

Hills over Gennesareth ...... 203 

Ruins of Et-Tabigah ...... 206 

Ruins of Tell Hum . ..... 207 

The Lake of Gennesareth from near Khan Minyeh 208 



GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCE OF THE JORDAN. 



Head-Piece — Lake Huleh ..... 209 
Initial — An Arab Encampment .... 
Bridge of Jacob's Daughters .... 
Rob Roy captured by the Arabs on the waters of 
the Lake Huleh 



209 


The Mouth of the Jordan, Lake Huleh 


. 213 


209 


Lake Huleh, or the Waters of Merom 


. 214 


210 


Hermon, from the Northern Shore of Lake 


Huleh 215 




Hermon, from near Tell-el-Kadi 


. - 216 


211 


The Source of the Jordan at Banias 


. 218 



SOUTHERN PALESTINE, 
OR JUDAEA. 



SOUTHERN PALESTINE, OR JUDAEA. 



JAFFA TO HEBKON. 



A reef of sharp jagged rocks, over which 
the surf breaks fiercely, runs parallel 
with the shore, forming a natural 
breakwater. Inside the reef the water 
is smooth enough, but too shallow to 
admit anything except fishing-boats 
and small coasting-craft. The har- 
bour has silted up by the sand-drift 
from Arabian and African deserts, so 
that steamers and sea-going vessels 
must anchor outside. Jaffa, a town of 
four thousand inhabitants, picturesque 
at a distance, as all Eastern towns 
are, stands on the slope of a hill and 
comes close down to the beach. It 
is encircled by a broad belt of gardens 
and orange groves. A rich fertile 
plain stretches for ten or twelve miles 
inland. Then a range of hills bounds 
the view. 

This ancient port was famous both 
in legend and history. It is the site 
of the fabled rescue of Andromeda 
by Perseus, and the city is declared 
by Pliny to have been standing before the Flood. The cedar- 
wood for building the Temple was sent hither by Hiram, king of 




EASTERN WATER-SELLER. 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



Tyre. 1 Here Jonah, " flying from the presence of the Lord," found a ship 
about to sail to Tarshish, "so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into 
it." 2 Somewhere within the circuit of those grey walls, "widows stood 




JAFFA FROM THE NORTH. 



weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made 
whilst she was yet with them." And amongst the tan-pits on the shore 
once stood, perhaps still stands, the house of Simon the Tanner, where Peter 
was taught by vision that Jewish exclusiveness was to end, and that hence- 

' 2 Chron. ii. 16 ; Ezra iii. 7. 2 Jonali i. 3. 



12 



FIRST VIEW OF THE HOLY LAND. 



forth he should " call nothing common or unclean." 1 It is our first view of 
that land, 

" Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
AVhich eighteen hundred years ago were nailed, 
For our advantage on the bitter cross." 

A number of boats, manned by half-naked Arabs, howling, yelling, and fighting 
like demons, cluster round the steamer. In one of them, retained for the use 
of our party, the fight is so fierce that our dragoman leaps down into it, and 
lays about him right and left with his heavy korbash. This proving of no 
avail, he seizes one of the Arabs by the throat, and throws him into the sea, 
to sink or swim as it may happen. Order being at length restored, we take 
our seats in the boat, are skilfully steered through a gap in the reef, and soon 
find ourselves at the foot of some black slimy steps, leading to the Turkish 
custom-house. A crowd of wretched creatures press round us, clamouring for 
backshish. The unpaved road is ankle deep in mud. Foul sights, and yet 
fouler smells, offend the senses. To most of my companions the sight was 
altogether new and strange. For myself, having had some previous experience 
of the filth and squalor of an Oriental town, I was not taken by surprise. 
But the disenchantment of the rest of the party, as they first set foot on the 
soil of Palestine, was complete. One American gentleman, who had come 
prepared to go into ecstasies, and had avowed his intention of falling on his 
knees on landing, to express his gratitude for being permitted to tread the 
sacred soil, looked round with a comical expression of bewilderment, and 
exclaimed, " Is this the Holy Land ?" 

Picking our way through a tortuous labyrinth of dismal alleys, we found 
our tents pitched outside the town. The camping ground is a spot of rare 
beauty. The Mediterranean, of a clear crystalline blue, studded with white 
sails, rolls up upon the beach. The long coast-line of Philistia runs north and 
south. Groves of orange, lemon, citron, fig, and pomegranate, vineyards 
and gardens, the produce of which is famous throughout Syria, form a broad 
belt round the city. The plain of Sharon, bright with verdure and enamelled 
with flowers, stretches inland. The mountains of Ephraim, blue against the 
eastern sky, form a beautiful frame for a lovely picture. It was easy to under- 
stand how a name meaning " the beautiful " should have been borne by the 
town for three thousand years. 

The traditional house of Simon the Tanner furnishes, from its flat roof, 
a fine point of view for this charming scene. And there is reason to 
believe that the tradition is not far wrong. The house is "by the sea- 
side;" 2 the waves beat against the wall of its courtyard. An ancient well, 
fed by a perennial spring, furnishes the water needful for the tanner's trade ; 
and tanneries of immemorial antiquity probably go back to the time of 
Peter's visit or even earlier. The vision here vouchsafed to the Apostle 

1 Acts ix. 36-43 ; x. 1-18. ; Acts x. 6. 

'3 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



gains a new appropriateness on this spot. Joppa has always been the port 
of Jerusalem. It is, indeed, the only port of Southern Palestine. Thence 
" the ships of Tarshish " were seen coming and going. The " isles of Chittim " 
(Cyprus) lie just below the horizon. It was the point at which the Jewish 
and Gentile world came into contact. Peter looking out over the waters of 
"the Great Sea" towards Greece and Rome, where the gospel was to win its 
greatest victories, would be at no loss to apply the lesson taught by the 
vision. 

The history of Tabitha is fondly remembered by the people of Joppa. 
Tabitha or Dorcas (i.e. the gazelle) is partly a personal name — partly a term 
of endearment. An annual festival is still celebrated on the 25th of May, 
when the young people go out into the orange-groves around the town 
and spend the clay in a sort of pic-nic, singing hymns and ballads in her 
honour. 

In modern times Jaffa has acquired a sad notoriety from the infamous 
massacre of his prisoners, and the alleged poisoning of his plague-stricken 
troops by Napoleon Bonaparte. The spot is yet pointed out where, amongst 
the sand-hills on the beach, four thousand Turkish and Albanian troops, who 
had surrendered as prisoners of war, were shot down in cold blood. 

Passing out from the town we cross the Plain of Sharon, the exquisite 
fertility and beauty of which made it to the Hebrew mind a symbol of pro- 
sperity. "The excellency of Carmel and Sharon" 1 was proverbial. "The 
earth mourneth and languisheth " when "Sharon is like a wilderness." 2 When 
the Most High shall again " bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah 
an inheritor of my mountains," its first result will be that once more " Sharon 
shall be a fold for flocks." 3 In the Song of songs, " I am the Rose of 
Sharon," 4 is the symbol to express the highest ideal of grace and beauty. 
As we rode across the plain, bright with the vivid green of early spring, and 
plucked handfuls of the innumerable flowers — cyclamens, anemones, roses, lilies, 
tulips and a score of others — which gemmed the turf or grew " unprofitably gay " 
amongst the corn, we could enter into the feelings of Hebrew poets and 
prophets as they exulted in " the glory of Sharon." But where were the in- 
habitants ? This fertile plain which might support an immense population is 
almost a solitude. Two or three wretched hamlets, mere clusters of mud 
huts, are the sole representatives of the numerous and thriving cities which 
once occupied it. 5 Here and there was a solitary Arab breaking up the clods 
with a plough which remains unchanged in form from the earliest ages. 
These were the only signs of life we could discover. Day by day we were 
to learn afresh the lesson now forced upon us, that the denunciations of 
ancient prophecy have been fulfilled to the very letter, — " the land is left void 

1 Isa. xxxv. 2. 2 Ibid, xxxiii. 9. 3 Ibid. lxv. 10. 4 Cant. ii. I. 

5 The name of one of these hamlets, passed soon after leaving Jaffa, reminds us that we are in the old Philistine 
territory — Beit Dejan = Beth Dagon, i.e., the house of Dagon, I Sam. v. 2. 
14 



DEPOPULATION OF THE COUNTRY. 



and desolate and without inhabitants." 1 Within the last few years, however, 
there has been an improvement in some parts of the plain, arising from the 
establishment of a German agricultural colony near Jaffa, of a model farm 
supported by a society in London, and the acquisition of a considerable tract 




PLOUGHING IN PALESTINE. 



of land by Messrs. Bergheim of Jerusalem. The German colonists retain, 
unchanged, the dress and manners of their fatherland, and it is not a little 
curious to meet a bevy of fair-haired, blue-eyed, red-cheeked damsels driven by 



1 Isa. vi. 1 1 - 1 3. Jer. iv. 7 ; ix. II ; xxvi. 9; xxxiii. 10; xxxiv. 22; etc. etc. 

c 



17 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



a Silesian peasant in a genuine einspanner, in a district made memorable by 
the exploits of Samson against the Philistines. 

Three hours from Jaffa stands Ramleh, which has been identified with 
the Ramah of the Old Testament and the Arimathea of the New, but without 
sufficient authority. Its chief object of interest is a magnificent tower, re- 
sembling the famous Giralda of Seville, quite perfect, which rises from the 
ruins of an ancient khan. From the summit a superb view is gained. To 
the east are seen the mountains of Israel, bare and monotonous, but not 
without a certain impressiveness. Westward the Mediterranean stretches to 
the verge of the horizon. All around lies the plain of Sharon. On the slope 
of a hill about three miles distant stands a little white-walled village, conspicuous 
by a lofty ruined tower. It is the Lod of the Old Testament, Lydda of 




RAMLEH. 



the New. 1 Here Peter " found a certain man named ^Eneas, who had kept 
his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, 
yEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole : arise, and make thy bed. And he 
arose immediately." Here, too, he received the request of the saints at Joppa 
to visit them in their trouble at the death of Dorcas. As the road has remained 
unchanged from the earliest times, we can trace the whole route by which the 
sorrowing disciples came and the apostle returned with them. In hagiology, 
Lydda is distinguished as the birth-place of St. George, the patron saint of 
England. The Church, the ruins of which are visible from a distance, was 
destroyed by Saladin, and restored by Richard Cceur de Lion. 

Soon after leaving Ramleh the road begins to ascend and the country 
grows wilder. We are approaching the elevated plateau on which Jerusalem 

1 i Chron. viii. 12. Ezra ii. 33. Neh. xi. 35. Acts ix. 32-39. 
18 ^ 



THE FRONTIERS OF PHILISTIA. 



stands, two thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea. Up 
to the time of David the whole maritime plain over which we have been 
riding was held by the Philistines. The defiles and passes we are now 
about to enter formed the marches — the debatable ground, the possession of 
which was contested inch by inch during successive generations. A little to 
the north of us stood the city of Ekron, whither the Ark of God was brought 
from Ashdod. We 
can trace the path by 
which the milch-kine, 
yoked to the new 
cart on which the 
Ark was laid, left 
their calves behind 
them and " went 
along the highway, 
lowing as they went, 
and turned not aside 
to the right hand or 
to the left ; and the 
lords of the Philis- 
tines went after them 
unto the border of 
Beth-shemesh. And 
they of Beth-shemesh 
were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley : and they lifted up their eyes, 
and saw the Ark, and rejoiced to see it." 1 The names of Ekron and Beth- 
shemesh are easily identified in Akir and Ain-shems. As we saw the green 
slopes of the hills with their fields of wheat and barley, and the labourers 
in the busy light of the declining sun, it was easy to realise the whole scene. 
Tracing the history step by step and noting how the localities exactly fell 
into the requirements of the narrative, it was impossible not to be struck 
by the precise accordance of the one with the other. The land and the book 
formed a perfect illustration of one another. 

Two traditional sites are now passed — El Latron, the name of which is 
said to be derived from its having been the abode of the penitent thief, and 
Amwas, the ancient Nicopolis, long regarded as the Emmaus of the New 
Testament. Though the identity of the latter site was for a thousand years 
unquestioned, and has recently been reasserted by the high authority of 
Dr. Robinson, it seems to me to be quite untenable. Its distance from 
Jerusalem is too great. The evangelist fixes it at " three score furlongs ;" 
Amwas is a hundred and sixty. Robinson assumes an error in the mss., 
for which there is no authority ; nor is it credible that the disciples should 

1 i Sam. vi. 12, 13. = Luke X xiv. i3~35- 




LYDDA. 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



have visited Jesusalem and returned hither in the same day, as the narrative » 
requires, making a distance of forty miles. 

Just as the sun was setting we found ourselves on the summit of a 
hill. Below us was a tangle and labyrinth of valleys running one into 
another. On the opposite hill the sun was resting before he " hasted to go 
down." Our camp was pitched on the edge of a brook in the bottom of the 
valley where mists and shadows were already gathering thick and heavy. 
It was the Valley of Ajalon, where Joshua commanded the sun to stand 
still. Again the topography illustrated and confirmed the narrative. Joshua, 




AMWAS, OR NICOPOLIS, THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF EMMAUS. 



encamped at Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, received intelligence that five 
kings of the Amorites had attacked the Gibeonites with whom he had just 
before made an alliance, 1 and who demanded instant succour. " Slack not 
thy hand from thy servants ; come up to us quickly and save us and help 
us." Though only just before the army had required three days to reach 
the city, 2 Joshua at once ordered a forced march which he accomplished in 
the course of a single night. He found the Amorites besieging Gibeon, the 
site of which is marked by the village of Geeb, some distance to the north-east 

1 Joshua ix. 315. 2 Ibid. x. 6, 7. 



THE VALLEY OF AJALON AND KIRJA TH-JEARIM. 



of where we stand. Taken by surprise at this sudden and unlooked-for 
attack, they were "discomfited," "slain with a great slaughter," and "chased 
along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon," now, Beit 'Ur el-Foka, Beth- 
horon the upper, on the summit of a hill looking over the plain of Sharon. 
Here they seem to have made a stand, but were driven down the steep 
rocky declivity leading to the lower Beth-horon, now Beit 'Ur et-Tahta, 
at the foot of the ravine. As in wild panic they were rushing down 
the precipitous descent, a hailstorm, perhaps, accompanied by a fall of 
meteoric stones, added to their confusion and dismay. Slipping and falling 
from rock to rock, the discomfited host endeavoured to escape along 
the valleys below us, hotly pursued by the victorious army. The kings 
took refuge in a cave, the entrance to which was blocked up by the 
pursuers who still pressed on after the flying foe. The sun had reached his 
meridian and stood over Gibeon, the pale crescent moon over Ajalon. Will 
the shades of evening close upon them when the victory is incomplete, giving 
opportunity to the Amorites to escape among the defiles which run in every 
direction, or to rally in the darkness ? " Then spake Joshua to the Lord . . . 
and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon ; and 
thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon 
stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies." The 
victory was complete ; the kings were brought out from the hiding-place and 
slain. " And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp at 
Gilgal." 1 

Soon after leaving the valley of Ajalon we reach the village of Kuryet- 
el-enab, better known at the present day as Abu-Gosh, from the robber chief 
who for nearly a quarter of a century kept the Turkish power at bay, and 
levied blackmail on the whole district. It is identified with tolerable certainty 
as the ancient Kirjath-Jearim {the city of forests), though the forests from 
which it took its name have long since disappeared. Originally a city of the 
Gibeonites, 2 it subsequently became one of the border towns marking the frontier 
between Judah and Benjamin. It is in consequence frequently mentioned in 
the mapping out and allotment of the land by Joshua. 3 The accuracy of what 
has been well called " The Doomsday Book of the Israelites " is shown by the 
fact that these ancient records still afford invaluable aid in settling the topo- 
graphy of Palestine. At Kirjath-Jearim the Ark rested for twenty years 
after being recovered from the hands of the Philistines and before its removal 
to Jerusalem by David. It was in this " city of forests" that the royal psalmist 
found it in "the fields of the wood" and brought it with songs of praise to 
the place he had prepared for its reception. 4 It was very interesting to read the 
narrative of the bringing hither of the Ark and compare it with the surrounding 
scenery. "And the men of Kirjath-Jearim came, and fetched up the Ark 

1 Joshua x. 8-27. See Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 208-212. 2 Ibid. ix. 17. 

3 Ibid. ix. 17 ; xv. 9, 60 ; xviii. 14, 15, 28. 4 I Sam. vi. 21 ; vii. I, 2. I Chron. xiii. 5. Fsalm cxxxii. 6. 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill." The village 
stands on the slope of a hill trending down towards Ain-Shems, the ancient 




[WOMEN OF THE HILL COUNTRY OF JUD.EA. 



Beth-Shemesh. A hill rises above the town, and the ruins of an ancient church 
which stands on its summit may not improbably mark the site of " the house 
of Abinadab." 



VALLEY OF EL AH AND EMMA US. 



Shortly after leaving Abu-Gosh we descend into a broad deep valley, 
the Wady es-Sumt, enclosed by rounded hills, terraced and covered with olives 
to the very summit. A brook, swollen by winter rains into a torrent, brawls 
over a bed of pebbles brought down by it from the rocks above. It 
is the Valley of Elah, along which the hosts of the Amorites fled after 
their defeat at Beth-horon, and where the ruddy stripling from Bethlehem 
confronted and slew the giant of Gath. 1 The hills curve round, forming 
an amphitheatre, in which, as "the Philistines stood on a mountain on 
one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other, and there was a 




WADY ES-SUMT AND KULONIA. [From a Sketch by Mr. F. E. Blackstone. 



valley between them," the hostile armies would be able to watch the combat 
between their chosen champions. Bethlehem is only about ten miles distant, 
and the young shepherd boy, who "rose up early in the morning and left the 
sheep with a keeper," could easily reach the spot in time to see " the battle 
set in array," and hear the defiant challenge of the Philistine. Shocoh is 
represented by the village of Shuweikeh ; Azekah is probably the modern 
Tell Zakariya ; and Gath lies at no great distance on the way down to 
Ekron. David, returning to Bethlehem by the main road would pass through 

1 i Sam. xvii. 

25 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



or near Jerusalem, at that time in the hands of the Jebusites ; hence the 
statement which has caused some perplexity to commentators, that " he took 
the head of the Philistine and brought it " thither. 

Leaving the valley of Elah on the way to Jerusalem the eye is arrested 
by a white-walled village standing on the slope of the hill, a little way off 
the road, but visible from it. Travellers going thither from Jerusalem must 
turn aside as "they draw nigh unto it"; others "who would go farther," 
continue along the road, leaving it on the right. It is now called Kulon or 
Kulonia, and at least a probable conjecture regards it as Emmaus. 1 Though 
there is no direct evidence of the fact, yet it fulfils all the requirements of 
the narrative, which, as we have seen, the traditional site fails to do. We 
know from Josephus that there was an Emmaus in this neighbourhood, and 
that a Roman garrison was stationed there. The modern name of Kulonia 
may not improbably represent the Colonia, or Roman settlement. Assuming 
the identification to be correct, we now, for the first time, find ourselves in 
the actual footsteps of Him whose " name is above every name." Tender, 
sacred, sublime, as are all the associations of the Holy Land, they must yield 
to thoughts of Him who was David's son and yet his Lord; who was of the 
seed of Abraham, and yet could say, " Before Abraham was I am." 

About seven miles, " sixty furlongs," from Kulonia we reach the summit 
of a broad plateau. Turning a corner of the road, a huge Russian monastery 
and church, with several smaller buildings around, all new, crude and raw in 
colour, obstruct the view in front. On the right is a ravine, beyond which 
a series of barren wind-swept hills stretch to the horizon. Just behind the 
monastery is a Turkish barrack, and then a line of dim grey venerable 
walls. There is nothing imposing or impressive in the sight, and yet every 
traveller halts ; even the most frivolous are awed into silence. Not a few 
gaze with tears upon the scene. It is Jerusalem ! The moment when its 
sombre turreted walls, minarets, and domes break, for the first time, upon 
the eye is one never to be forgotten. The dream, the hope of a lifetime 
has been fulfilled. The one thought, " Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 
O Jerusalem," swallows up every other. I was not surprised ; I was not 
disappointed. The outward features of the landscape were scarcely seen. The 
present was lost sight of and forgotten in the memories of the past. This 
was the city of the Lord of Hosts ! Here He chose to dwell between the 
cherubim ! Here my Lord was crucified ! 

It was not our plan to make any stay in Jerusalem at present. We 
should return in a few days. I contented myself, therefore, with entering at 
the Jaffa gate, and clattering for a few hundred feet along the stony street. 
Then, retracing my steps, I rode round a portion of the southern wall 
and descended into the Valley of Hinnom to rejoin my companions. 

Passing the Pool of Gihon, and leaving the Hill of Evil Counsel on 

1 Luke xxiv. 13-33. 

26 



TOMB OF RACHEL. 



our left, an extensive view opens before us. The eye ranges over a vast 
expanse of rocky hills, covered with a sparse vegetation. Several forti- 
fied and castellated convents — Greek, Latin, Copt and Armenian — remind 
us that Christianity is but encamped as a foreigner in the land which gave 
it birth, suggest too the wild and lawless character of the people where the 
monks have to live as garrisons holding fortresses in an enemy's country. 
Several villages, each with a name which recalls events of biblical history, 
come into view. One of these, conspicuous from its size and position, is 
Bethlehem, which we hope to visit on our return from Hebron. 

An hour and a quarter after leaving Jerusalem, we approach a square 
white-washed building surmounted by a dome. Except for its greater size, 




TOMB OF RACHEL. 



it differs in no respect from the ordinary tombs of Moslem saints, so nu- 
merous throughout Egypt and Syria. It is the birth-place of Benjamin, and 
the Tomb of Rachel. The present edifice is modern, but the identity of 
the site is undoubted, being clearly marked out by the inspired narrative, 
" And they journeyed from Beth-el ; and there was but a little way to come 
to Ephrath : and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour . . . And it 
came to pass, as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his 
name Ben-oni {i.e. the son of my sorrow) : but his father called him Benjamin 
{i.e., the son of my right hand). And Rachel died, and was buried in the 
way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave : 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." 1 How deeply and per- 
manently this event, with all its details, was impressed on the mind of the 
bereaved patriarch, may be gathered from the fact, that, on his death-bed, he 
recalled all the circumstances : "As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel 
died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a 
little way to come unto Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way of 
Ephrath." 2 It has been said that the roads in the East never vary, but 
continue to follow precisely the same course age after age. It will be 
noticed that, in both accounts of the death of Rachel, stress is laid upon 
the fact that she died and was buried " in the way." The tomb of Rachel 
still stands on the roadside. 

An hour beyond Rachel's tomb brings us to a fertile, but desolate and 
unpeopled valley, in which stands a large old castellated khan, near which 
are three remarkable cisterns of great size, constructed with solid masonry, 
the joints of which have the peculiar bevel which is regarded as characteristic 
of old Jewish or Phoenician work. Their dimensions are as follows : 

Length. Feet. Depth. Feet. Breadth. Feet. 

Upper Pool .. .. .. 380 25 230 

Middle Pool .. .. .. 423 39 230 

Lower Pool .. .. .. 582 50 175 

They are fed by three perennial springs, which gush from the rock into a 
cavern lined with masonry in the hill above the khan, access to which is 
gained by a narrow doorway, and are conducted by a subterranean conduit 
into the upper pool. In the valley, below the lower pool, on the way to 
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, are traces of ancient gardens and orchards. Fruit 
trees are growing wild ; the hills on either side are terraced ; and there 
are indications of fountains, waterfalls, and arbours having been constructed 
amongst the rocks. The name by which they are known, Solomon's Pools, 
leads the mind to the passage in Ecclesiastes : "I made me great works ; 
I builded me houses ; I planted me vineyards : I made me gardens and 
orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits : I made me 
pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees." 3 Though 
we have no positive proof that these are relics of " the glory of Solomon," 
the probability is strong in favour of their being so. 

About four hours and a half south of Solomon's Pools, stands a city, 
which contests with Damascus, the distinction of being the oldest in the world ; 
and which, in historical interest, may almost vie with Jerusalem itself — Hebron. 
It has been said that the road thither is unique, as being absolutely the worst 
in the world. It would, however, be more correct to say that for the greater 
part of the distance there is no road at all. A track, indistinctly marked, 
crosses hill and valley, over smooth sheets of slippery rock, winding in and out 
amongst piles of stones, or leading into treacherous quagmires. Here and 

1 Gen. xxxv. 16-20. 2 Gen. xlviii. 7. 3 Eccles. ii. 4-6. 

30 



SOLOMON'S POOLS. 




there traces of Roman pavement may be detected, or a mass of limestone rock 
has been cut through. In all other respects the rugged mountain -sides remain 
unchanged. The scenery is monotonous and depressing. A succession of bare, 
rounded hills, absolutely treeless, and apparently hopelessly barren, stretch to 
the horizon in every direction. There is nothing to break the solitude, save 
now and then a string of camels on their way between Hebron and Jerusalem. 
Not a house, or sign of human habitation, is visible. 

The prevailing grey tone of the landscape, save where a strip of brilliant 
green in the valleys marks the line of a watercourse, adds to the monotony. 
And yet this district, now so lonely and desolate, must at some period have 
been both populous and prosperous. Ruins of ancient villages are to be seen 
on every hand ; and 
the lines of stones, 
which now add to 
the sterile aspect of 
the hill-sides, prove 
on examination to be 
the remains of arti- 
ficial terraces, by 
means of which the 
steepest slopes and 
the scantiest soil were 
once brought under 
cultivation. 1 

Shortly before 
reaching Hebron the 
road passes along a 
valley, the sides of 
which are covered 

with figs, olives, pomegranates, peaches, and apricots. But the extent and 
luxuriance of the vineyards form its. most striking feature. It is the Valley 
of Eshcol, where the spies " cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, 
and they bare it between two upon a staff ; and they brought of the pome- 
granates, and of the figs." 2 The fruit of Eshcol is famous to this day for 
its size and flavour throughout Southern Palestine ; and as we looked around 
on the expanse of orchards and olive groves and vineyards, it was easy to 
understand the favourable report of the spies— "We came unto the land 
whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey ; and this 
is the fruit of it." We are in the territory of Judah, and as we observed the 

1 The soil which looks so utterly and hopelessly barren is not so in reality. To an English eye the attempt to 
cultivate these hill-sides would appear almost madness. " But the result of my inquiries was, that under proper tillage the 
soil is very fertile. The reply of several peasants when questioned was, " If we had people to till the ground, and a 
government that would let us live, we could grow anything.'' 

2 Num. xiii. 23-27. 




HwjjlL 



SOLOMON'S POOLS. 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



size of the vine-stubs, and the abundance of their produce, the prophetic 
blessing of Jacob could not be forgotten, " Binding his foal unto the vine, and 
his ass's colt unto the choice vine ; he washed his garments in wine, and his 
clothes in the blood of grapes : his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth 
white with milk." 1 

We noticed, too, the vineyards walled round with stones, collected from 
within the enclosure, each with its wine-fat and a tower, constructed, like the 
fences, with stones and masses of rock which would otherwise have marred the 
soil ; and the words of Isaiah found an exact illustration, " My wellbeloved 
hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill : and he fenced it, and gathered out the 




RUINS OF TEKOA, ON THE WAY DOWN TO HEBRON. 

stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the 
midst of it, and also made a winepress therein." 2 The parable spoken by 
our Lord was, at the same time, vividly illustrated. " There was a certain 
householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged 
a winepress in it, and built a tower." 3 

The grapes are either eaten fresh, or dried into raisins, or boiled down 
into grape-honey {dibs), or made into wine. Of course the Mohammedans 
leave the production and consumption of the latter to the Jewish and Christian 
residents, its use being forbidden by the Koran. I found the wine of Hebron 

1 Gen. xlix. ri, 12. " Isa. v. I, 2. 3 Matt. xxi. 33. Mark xii. I. Luke xx. 9. 

32 



HEBRON. 



strong, but very sweet, being loaded with grape-honey, and apparently flavoured 
with spices, tasting much like the elder-berry wine which is made in country 
districts in England. 

The first view of Hebron is very striking. It is picturesquely situated 
among groves of olives, on the slope of a hill at the southern end of the 
valley of Eshcol. Solidly built with blocks of grey weather-beaten stone, it 
has an appearance of great antiquity as befits a city reared " seven years 
before Zoan in Egypt." 1 Zoan has disappeared, but Hebron still stands, with 
a history which goes back for more than three thousand years. The ancient 
names of the city — " Kirjath-Arba, the city of Arba the father of Anak, which 
city is Hebron," 2 are no longer used. But its modern name is strangely impres- 
sive and affecting. ' It is now known as El-Khulil, that is, The Friend, leading 
the mind back to the 
title given to the illus- 
trious patriarch by 
God Himself, " Abra- 
ham, My friend." 3 It 
is by this name that 
he is always known 
throughout the Mo- 
hammedan world; and 
the epithet has passed 
over from the patri- 
arch himself to the city 
with which he was so 
intimately associated. 

Very early in the 
life of Abraham we 
find him encamped "in 
the plain of Mamre, 

• which is in Hebron, and he built there an altar unto the Lord." 4 He and his 
nephew Lot had parted. Lot had chosen the well-watered and luxuriant 
plain of the Jordan, which lies just across the range of hills on the western 
slope of which Hebron stands ; and Abraham had remained on the elevated 
plateau which was henceforth to be inseparably associated with himself and his 
descendants. 

It was whilst encamped at Mamre that he received tidings of the disaster 
which had fallen upon his nephew. Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, with his 
allies, had attacked and sacked the cities of the plain, had carried away Lot 
as captive, and, laden with spoil, was returning to his own country. Abraham 
at once collected his clan, "born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, 

1 Num. xiii. 22. 2 Joshua xxi. II. 

3 2 Chron. xx. 7. Isa. xli. 8, James ii. 23. 4 Gen. xiii. 18. 

D 33 




JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



and pursued them unto Dan," 1 the extreme northern city of Palestine. A 
battle was fought, in which Chedorlaomer was slain, his army routed, and Lot 
with his family delivered from captivity. 

Some years now pass by, in which the names of Hebron and Mamre do 
not occur, though it is probable that some of the incidents recorded happened 
there. Then " the Lord appeared unto him in the plain of Mamre : and he 
sat in the tent door in the heat of the day ; and he lift up his eyes and looked, 
and, lo, three men stood by him." 2 The prompt hospitality of the patriarch 
was just such as would be offered by an Arab sheikh at the present day. 
Travellers have delighted to illustrate the narrative by narrating similar inci- 
dents in their own experience. Soon the mysterious visitants " rose up from 
thence, and looked toward Sodom : and Abraham went with them to bring them 
on the way" J over the ridge of hills which divided Mamre from the doomed 
city. Two of them seem to have continued their journey, " and went toward 
Sodom." The third remains — it is the Lord himself, the Angel of the 
Covenant. He discloses to Abraham the impending destruction of the cities 
of the plain, which would involve Lot and his family in the general ruin. 
The patriarch, who had once before rescued his nephew from the cruelty of 
man, now ventures to interpose between him and the judgments of God. 
His fervent prayer having reached its end, " the Lord went His way, as 
soon as He had left communing with Abraham : and Abraham returned unto 
his place." 4 With the dawn of day we find him an eager watcher from the 
hill-top above his tent. " Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place 
where he stood before the Lord : and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the 
country went up as the smoke of a furnace." 5 It affords an interesting confirma- 
tion of this part of the narrative that from the summit of the hill just above the 
traditional site of Mamre a view may be gained, through a notch of the 
dividing ridge, right down into the valley beyond, with its scene of weird 
desolation. 

Hebron next comes before us as the scene of bereavement. "And 
Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba ; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan : and 
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." He, to whom 
the whole land had been promised in " a covenant which could not be broken," 
possessed not a foot of soil in it, and he must buy a grave, " that I may 
bury my dead out of my sight." The negotiation with the sons of Heth 
which followed, is finely characteristic of the courtesy, the generosity, and 
the practical wisdom of the bereaved patriarch. The purchase of the cave 
of Machpelah is effected and the place of burial is transferred, the narrative 
of the completion of the purchase being recorded in terms, the precision of 
which is like that of a legal document. 6 Sarah is buried there, and "then 



34 



1 Gen. xiv. 14. 
4 Ibid. ver. 33. 



2 Ibid, xviii. I, 2. 

3 Ibid. xix. 27, 28. 



s Ibid. ver. 16. 
8 Ibid, xxiii. 2-20. 



THE PATRIARCHS AT HEBRON. 



Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and 
full of years ; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael 
buried him in the cave of Machpelah." 1 

Yet again we read that "Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, 
unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. 
And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave 
up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full 
of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." 2 

Here Jacob lived after the death of his father, and hence he sent the 




HEBRON, AND MOSQUE OVER CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 



beloved son of his beloved Rachel to visit his brethren at Shechem. 3 Here, too, 
he buried Leah, 4 as Sarah and Rebekah had already been laid side by side. 
And " he gave commandment concerning his bones," that the same sacred 
enclosure should be his last resting-place. 5 Hither his embalmed body was 
brought, with all the pomp and ceremonial of mourning for which Egypt 
was famous, and there, probably, the mummy of the last of three great patri- 
archs rests to this day. 6 

We have already seen that the spies, starting from Kadesh-Barnea, 

1 Gen. xxv. 8, 9. 2 Ibid. xxxv. 27-29. 3 Ibid, xxxvii. I-14. 

4 Ibid. xlix. 31. " Ibid. xlix. 29-33. 

6 Ibid. 1. 1-13. It will be observed that the historian lays special stress upon the embalmment. " And Joseph 
commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were 
fulfilled for him ; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed." 

D 2 35 



I 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



passed through Hebron when sent up "to spy out the land." 1 One of them, 
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, faithful amongst the faithless, had rebuked the 
fears of the people and " wholly followed the Lord God of Israel." To him 
and his heirs Hebron had been promised as the reward of his fidelity. After 
the defeat of the Ammonites by Joshua, when the city was stormed and sacked 
by the victorious Israelites, Caleb claimed the fulfilment of this promise, 
" And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh 
Hebron for an inheritance." 2 

For some time onward, Hebron receives only slight and passing mention. 




POOL OF HEBRON. 

But in this old royal city, hallowed by so many associations, David established 
his throne on the death of Saul, and here he reigned as king of Judah for 
" seven years and six months." 3 Soon Hebron again comes before us as a 
place of burial. Abner, falling a victim to the vengeance and ambition of 
Joab, who slew him in the gate of the city, received a magnificent funeral, 
and king David himself followed the bier, and they buried Abner in Hebron, 
and the king lifted up his voice and wept, and all the people wept. 4 A tomb 
is yet shown and regarded with great reverence as that of Abner. 

One spot in the suburbs of Hebron we are enabled to associate with the 

1 Num. xiii. 22. 2 Ibid. xiii. 33 ; xiv. 6-24; xxxii. 12. Joshua xiv. 6-15 ; xv. 13. 

3 2 Sam. ii. 2-1 1. 1 Kings ii. n. 1 Chron. iii. 1-4. 2 Sam. iii. 22, 39. 

36 



MOSQUE AT HEBRON. 



residence of David here. There are two tanks or pools just outside the 
city gate, evidently of great antiquity. It was here that he executed the 
murderers of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul. "And David commanded his 




ENTRANCE TO MOSQUE. From a Photograph. 



young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and 
hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of 
Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron." 1 

1 2 Sam. iv. 12. 



37 



JAFFA TO HEBRON. 



When the tribes of Israel came down to Hebron, and made David king - 
over all the land, the interest and importance of the city ceased. Only 
once again does it appear in history. Here Absalom came and raised the 
standard of revolt against his father, and " sent spies throughout all the tribes 
of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then shall 
ye say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron." 1 The name does not occur in the 
New Testament, nor does our Lord appear to have visited it in the course 
of his ministry ; but on the flight into Egypt, when Joseph " arose and took 
the young child and his mother by night," 2 they must have passed through 
the city and probably rested here on the first night of the journey. 

Great and various as is the interest associated with Hebron, that interest 
culminates in the cave of Machpelah. Here lie the bodies of the three great 
patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives — Sarah, Rebekah, and 
Leah. Mohammedan tradition affirms that the embalmed body of Joseph, like- 
wise, rests here, and his cenotaph is in the mosque over the cave, with those 
of the other patriarchs. 3 

It is thus the most interesting Campo Santo in the world, and shares 
with Jerusalem the distinction of being regarded with reverence alike by Jews, 

Christians, and Mohammedans. 
If it were possible for us to 
ascertain with certainty the se- 
pulchre of our Lord, we should 
approach it with yet deeper 
feelings of awe and reverence, 
though He lay there only for 
thirty-six hours. But in seek- 
ing the place " where the Lord 
lay," we have nothing to guide 
us but vague conjecture and du- 
bious tradition. Here, however, 
the identification is absolute and 
beyond the reach of scepticism. 
Guarded with superstitious care 
for more than three thousand years, we can feel complete confidence that 
"the Father of the faithful" and "the Friend of God" lies here with his 
sons. 

The entrance to the cave appears to have been in the face of a projecting 
mass of rock — there are many such round Hebron — which rose in the field 

1 2 Sam. xv. 10. 2 Matt. ii. 14. 

3 We learn from Gen. 1. 25, 26, Exod. xiii. 19, and Joshua xxiv. 32, that Joseph gave strict commands to his 
descendants that his body should be carried back into Canaan, that it was embalmed and placed in a coffin, that in 
the confusion of the flight out of Egypt his dying injunction was not forgotten, and that the bones of Joseph, which the 
children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the 
sons of Hamor (Gen. xxxiii. 19). The Mohammedan tradition is that the mummy was afterwards removed to Machpelah. 
The ambiguous statement of Stephen (Acts vi. 16) seems to imply that though buried at Shechem he was yet laid in the 
38 




THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 



of Ephron the Hittite. The trees which bordered it 1 were probably co-exten- 
sive with the walls which now enclose the Haram of the Mosque. At a very 
early period, probably not later than the times of David or Solomon, an edifice 
was erected over the cave. The stones are of great size, with the charac- 
teristic Jewish bevel. Dr. Wilson measured one which was thirty-eight feet in 
length. The architecture is peculiar, being neither Saracenic nor Christian. A 
series of flat pilasters run round the sides. From the main entrance a flight 
of stone steps runs up between the outer wall and the mosque. We thus 
rise from the bottom of the cliff in the face of which was the entrance of 
the cave up to the top. Into the cave itself no one is allowed to enter, 
Even the mosque is guarded with jealous care. No Jew or Christian had 
been permitted to set foot within it, until, after immense difficulty, permission 
was granted to the Prince of Wales and his suite in the year 1862. 
Within the last few years the severity of the restriction has been somewhat 
relaxed. In the year 1873, I was allowed to go about halfway up the 
flight of steps outside the mosque and to put my hand through a hole in 
the wall, which I was told led into the cave. I was then led round the outside 
on to the roof, that I might look down through the lattice-work of a tower into 
the mosque. All, however, was perfectly dark, and I could see nothing. The 
locality of the shrines was pointed out to me, which agreed with the description 
given by Dean Stanley in the narrative of his visit with the Prince of Wales. 

It is to Dean Stanley that we are indebted for our knowledge of the 
interior. He found the chapels or 
shrines of the patriarchs and their 
wives, arranged in order, over the 
places where the bodies were said 
to lie in the cave beneath. They 
stand as in the annexed plan. 

As we turn away from the 
secret and mysterious cave, where 
lie the ashes of the illustrious dead, 
under the jealous care of their 
Arab guardians, hallowed memories 
and yet more hallowed hopes 
suggest themselves. The hushed 
silence of well-nigh four thousand 
years shall one day be broken, and He, who is "the resurrection and the 
life," shall call forth the sleepers from their resting-place of ages. 



Joseph 



Isaac 

— L_ 



I I 

Rebekah 



Abraham 
\±_\ 



Sarah 



Jacob 
I 

L_l 



Leah 



ARRANGEMENT OF TOMBS IN CAVE OF MACHPELAH. 



sepulchre with Abraham. A passage in Josephus {Ant. ii. 8, 2) may bear the same meaning ; and the spot pointed 
out as that of Joseph's tomb is in perfect accordance with this view, it being detached from that of the others at one 
coiner of the mosque, as though the wall had been broken through at a later period than the previous interments, and 
after the main entrance into the cave had been finally closed up. 
1 Gen. xxiii. 17. 

39 



JAFFA TO HEBROA 7 . 



" What though the Moslem mosque be in the valley ! 
Though faithless hands have sealed the sacred cave ! 
And the red prophet's children shout ' El Allah ' 
Over the Hebrews' grave ! 

Yet a day cometh when those white walls shaking 
Shall give again to light the living dead ; 
And Abraham, Isaac, Jacob reawaking 
Spring from their rocky bed." 

On the return from Hebron, a slight detour by a road leading through 
vineyards brings us to a magnificent tree known as Abraham's Oak. Here 
according to tradition, Abraham sat at the door of his tent, when he received 
the visit of the angels. 1 It is a stately Syrian oak, of the species known to the 
Arabs as Sindidn. Though of great age it is obviously later than the Christian 
era. Yet it well deserves a visit, not only for its great size and beauty, but 
as the last survivor of the grove of oaks, which stood here in Patriarchal 
and Hebrew times. It measures twenty-three feet round the trunk, and its 
branches cover an area in one direction of fifty feet, and of ninety feet in 
another. Its situation answers admirably to the biblical description of Mamre, 
being " before " or " over against " Machpelah, whilst from the hill above it a 
view, already referred to, 2 of the plain of Sodom is gained. Here, therefore, I 
should fix the site of Mamre rather than at Rhamet el Khulil (the Hill of 
the Friend), which stands some distance to the north. 

1 Gen. xviii. 1-8. • Ibid. xix. 28. 




Abraham's oak near hebron. 



40 



betheehem 



TO THE DEAD £EA. 



was a brilliant morning in early spring 
as we rode along the hill-side over the 
Wady Urtas from Solomon's Pools to 
Bethlehem. The turf was vividly 
green, gemmed with innumerable flowers. 
Orchards of peach, apricot, and pome- 
granate with their white and scarlet 
blossoms, succeeded one another in an 
unbroken series along the valley. The 
conduit, which conducts the water from 
Solomon's Pools to Jerusalem, and which 
in ancient times supplied the Temple, was 
open in various places, and we could see 
e crystal stream rlasn past on its way to " make glad the city of God." 1 
The Jebel Fureidis, a steep conical mountain, visible from almost every 
point in Southern Palestine, formed a striking object in the landscape. 
" The little hills rejoice on every side ; the pastures are clothed with flocks ; 
the valleys also are covered over with corn ; they shout for joy, they also 
sing." 2 Wherever we turn our eyes the words of the Psalmist are suggested 
as the aptest description of the scenery. It was easy to see where the Shepherd 
of Bethlehem drew the materials for his poetry. 

Soon Bethlehem 3 comes into view — a white-walled village of about three 
thousand inhabitants, all Christians. They are, however, a turbulent, quarrel- 
some set, ever fighting amongst themselves or with their neighbours. In 

1 Psa. xlvi. 4. It has been conjectured that the reference in the text is to the bringing of this very stream to 
Jerusalem. A river, in the common sense of the term, there could never have been in or near the city. 

2 Psa. lxv. 12, 13. 

3 The name Bethlehem — the house of bread — is probably a translation of the older name Ephrath, or Ephratah — the 
fruitful. The modern name, Beit-lahm — the house of flesh — is an Arabic reproduction of the sound and meaning. 

41 




BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



the disturbances which take place so frequently at Jerusalem, it is said that 
the ringleaders are commonly found to be Bethlehemites. The women are 
remarkable for personal beauty. I saw more handsome faces here in a few 
hours than elsewhere in the East in many days. The dress, which is peculiar, 
is very becoming'. A sort of tiara of some bright metal encircles the head 
over which is folded a white cloth which hangs down upon the shoulders. 
The men are strong, lithe, well-built fellows, and I saw several young shepherds, 
who were models of manly vigour. Here, as elsewhere in the East, the 




GATE OF BETHLEHEM. 



pastoral pipe is in constant use. The shepherd-lad makes it for himself, 
shaping the mouth-piece out of some hard wood, and using a hollow reed for 
the pipe. I cannot say much in praise of the music they produce. 

Bethlehem stands on the crest of a ridge of Jurassic limestone. As it is 
surmounted by higher hills, however, the view from it is not very extensive. 
Jerusalem, though only six miles distant, is hidden by an intervening height. 
But through the valleys stretching away eastward to the Dead Sea, fine views 
are gained of the mountains of Moab, and from the flat roof of the Latin 
Convent part of the Dead Sea itself is visible. 

Passing over the two disgraceful events connected with Bethlehem, during 

4 2 



RUTH AND NAOMI. 



the period of anarchy described in the concluding chapters of the Book of 
Judges, 1 we come to that exquisite idyll, the beauty of which, apart from its 




WOMEN OF BETHLEHEM. 



religious bearing, invests the scene with a charm, amounting to fascination. 
Read the history of Ruth on the spot, and every minutest detail acquires a 
new interest and meaning. We can trace the journey of Elimelech and his 

1 Judges xvii. xix. 

43 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



family, as, driven by stress of famine, they make their way toward that long 
line of purple mountains against the eastern sky — some twenty miles distant. 




SHEPHERD OF BETHLEHEM. 



We see the two childless widows return— Naomi, proud and bitter in her 
poverty and bereavement, rejecting the greetings of the townspeople : " Call 
me not Naomi {pleasant), call me Mara {bitter) : for the Almighty hath dealt 

44 



RUTH AND NAOMI. 



very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home 
again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against 
me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?" 1 We see the young Moabitess 




EASTERN GLEANERS. 



with her strange beauty and gentleness winning all hearts. Amongst the 
youths and maidens around us, it is easy to believe that her descendants are 
not wanting. 

1 Ruth i. 20, 21. 

45 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



We may still see the fields of wheat and barley in the valley below us from 
which " Boaz went up to the gate." 1 We may still hear the very same greeting 
as when " Boaz said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you, and they 
answered him, The Lord bless thee." 2 We may see the reapers resting at noon- 
day, sheltered from the fierce heat of the sun by some spreading tree, dipping 
their morsel of bread into the vinegar or eating their parched corn from the 
ears, 3 the gleaners bearing home the wheat and barley they have gathered 
in the coarse cloth which serves the peasant women for a veil, or beating it 
out by the roadside that they may carry it more easily. 4 Yonder are the 
threshing-floors in the field where the master will spend the nights of harvest 
to protect his produce from robbers. 5 And here is the gate of the city where 
Boaz sat with the elders to redeem the possession that was Elimelech's and 
take the beautiful young widow to wife. 6 Well was the nuptial benediction 
fulfilled, " The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel 
and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel : and do thou worthily 
in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem." 7 

Nearly a hundred years must have elapsed before we hear again of Beth- 
lehem, for the orandson Q f Boaz and Ruth is now an old man. 8 He is the 
father of eight stalwart sons, the youngest of whom keeps his father's sheep 
upon the mountain-side. Though treated as of no account by the elders of the 
family, 9 he is yet called David (the darling), is described as " ruddy, blue-eyed, 
and beautiful he is already famous as a musician, and has distinguished him- 
self for strength, courage, wit, and piety." These qualities commend him to the 
servants of Saul, and he is chosen to play before the moody king and charm 
away his gloom. 12 

The life of a Bethlehemite shepherd was one of no common toil and danger, 
and it remains so down to the present day. Hordes of wandering Bedouin 
are waiting to swoop down upon the flocks and herds of the peaceful inhabitants, 
and need to be watched against with ceaseless vigilance and repelled with fear- 
less courage. Bears descend from the neighbouring mountains. Lions have 
disappeared, but in the days of David they came up from their lairs in the 
valley of the Dead Sea, driven forth by the swelling of the Jordan. The 
prowess of the shepherd lad had been tried against these familiar perils.' 3 Yet, 
modest and pious, as he was strong and bold, he ascribes his success to the 
Lord, who taught his hands to war and his fingers to fight. 14 No wonder that 
He who " seeth not as man seeth, for the man looketh on the outward appear- 
ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart," 15 should have rejected the elder sons 
of Jesse and directed his prophet to anoint the youngest as the future king. 

I Ruth iv. i. - Ibid. ii. 4. 3 Ibid. ii. 14. ■ Ibid. ii. 17 ; iii. 15. 
5 Ibid. iii. 7. (i Ibid. iv. ; Ibid. iv. 11, 12. 8 I Sam. xvii. 12. 

9 Ibid. xvi. 11 ; xvii. 28. "' Ibid. xvi. 12 (see margin); xvii. 42. 

II Ibid. xvi. 18. 12 Ibid. ver. 23. 13 I Sam. xvii. 34-37. 
14 Ps. cxliv. 1. 15 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 

46 



THE CAVE OF A DULL AM. 



His chequered fortunes now lead him away from Bethlehem and we hear 
of him no more in his actual birth-place. But the cave of Adullam was 
not far distant. The limestone rocks of the district abound in caves, 
many of them of great size. The one which is said by tradition to have been 
the retreat of David and his followers is about five miles from Bethlehem, 
near the base of Jebel Fureidis or the Frank Mountain already spoken 
of as so striking an object in the landscape. It is approached by a savage 
ravine, after which a steep ascent leads upward by a path so narrow that 
a handful of brave men might keep a whole army at bay. The entrance 
to the cave is by a small opening through which only a single person can 
pass at a time. This leads to a series of chambers, some large enough to 
hold several hundred men. 
A perfect labyrinth of gal- 
leries and passages, never fully 
explored, stretch in every 
direction, and are said by the 
Arabs to go as far as Tekoa. 
In one of them is a large 
cistern, supplied, probably, by 
filtration through the rock 
above. The largest chamber 
has an arched roof with nu- 
merous recesses in the sides, 
reminding visitors of a gothic 
cathedral. Here David, living 
in the midst of his own clan, 
would be promptly warned of 
the approach of danger, and 
could easily receive supplies 
of food. The summit of the 
hill above commands a view 
of the whole surrounding dis- 
trict, so that the movements 
of his enemies could be 
watched in every direction. His familiarity with the wild glens and strongholds 
of the district, gained whilst keeping his father's sheep, would prove an immense 
advantage in flying from his pursuers. And the proximity to Moab secured for 
him a safe retreat if hard pressed. In Moab, too, he found friends and relatives, 
in virtue of his descent from " Ruth the Moabitess," to whom he committed 
his parents when they were exposed to danger from the vindictive fury of Saul. 1 
The phrase that " his brethren and all his father's house went down thither unto 
him," 2 which at first suggests a difficulty, from the fact that the cave is high 

1 I Sam. xxii. 3, 4. 2 Ibid. ver. I. 

47 




ENTRANCE TO CAVE OF ADULLAM. 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



up on the mountain-side, finds an easy explanation as we observe that from 
Bethlehem they must first descend into the Wady Urtas and wind along down 
the ravine. In the references to this cave, as everywhere in Scripture, the narra- 
tive is in such exact and minute agreement with the topography of the district 
that it could only have been written by an eye-witness. 

It was whilst hiding here with his wild and outlawed followers that the 
touching incident occurred of his longing for the " water of the well of 
Bethlehem, that is at the gate." 1 The worn and weary fugitive who compares 
himself to "a partridge hunted upon the mountains," 2 goes back to the 
peaceful happy days of his shepherd life. He remembers the time when, 
leading his flocks homeward in the evening after a day of sultry heat on the 

mountain-side, he had quenched his 
thirst at the familiar well, just as 
we had seen the shepherds doing on 
the same spot. Were ever days so 
happy ! Was ever water so sweet ! 
The " three mighty ones," eager to 
gratify the faintest wish of their be- 
loved chief, break through the be- 
leaguering host of the Philistines, draw 
the water from the well, and return. 
The hero, reproaching himself for his 
selfish wish, that had " put in jeo- 
pardy the lives of these men," refuses 
to drink thereof, and pours it out for 
" a drink-offering to the Lord." 

Only once again does the name 
of Bethlehem occur in Old Testa- 
ment history. The reference, though 
slight and incidental, has an im- 
portant bearing on the site of the 
Nativity. When David was flying 
from his rebellious son Absalom in- 
to the region beyond the Jordan, 
amongst those who showed kindness to the "dim discrowned king" was 
Barzillai the Gileadite. 3 When the rebellion had been crushed, and the king was 
about to return to his own land, Barzillai accompanied him across the Jordan. 
The grateful monarch invited the old man to go up with him to Jerusalem as 
his guest. Barzillai declined the honour, pleading his advanced age, his growing 

1 i Chron. xi. 16-19. 

2 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. We saw and heard large numbers of the desert partridge, with its reddish legs and beak, and its 
sides striped with white, black, and brown, on these very mountains. 

3 2 Sam. xvii. 27-29. 

48 




CAVE OF ADULLAiM. 



CHIMHAM AT BETHLEHEM. 





weakness, his failing sight, saying, " How long have I to live, that I should 
go up with the king unto Jerusalem ? I am this day fourscore years old : and 
can I discern between good and evil ? Can thy servant taste what I eat or 
what I drink ? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing 
women ? Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord 
the king ? Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king : and 
why should the king re- = _...~ 
compense it me with such 
a reward ? Let thy ser- 
vant, I pray thee, turn 
back again, that I may 
die in mine own city, 
and be buried by the 
grave of my father and 
of my mother." 

But the honour 
which he declines for 
himself he solicits on be- 
half of his son Chim- 
ham, who accompanied 
David on his return to 
Jerusalem. 1 Chimham 
seems to have been 
treated with peculiar 
favour, and adopted into 
the family of the king ; 
for David, on his death- 
bed, specially commended 
him to the care of Solo- 
mon, aftd requested that 
he be of "those that eat 
at his table." 2 We find 
further that he came in- 
to possession of property 
in or near Bethlehem, 3 
which he transmitted to his descendants, for in the prophecies of Jeremiah 
"the habitation of Chimham which is by Bethlehem" is spoken of as a place 
familiarly known. That this formed part of the patrimony of David, given to 
him as an adopted son, is highly probable, for in no other way can we under- 
stand a Gileadite permanently owning land at Bethlehem. 

1 2 Sam. xix. 31-40. 

2 1 Kings ii. 7. That this involved admission into the family seems to be implied. See 2 Sam. ix. 11. — " As for 
.Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table as one of the king's sons." 3 Jer. xli. 17. 

E 49 




BETHLEHEM FROM THE SHEPHERDS FIELD. 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



But the word, translated "house" in Jeremiah, where the Jews assembled 
on their way down into Egypt, means a khan or caravanserai. Elsewhere, it 
is translated "inn." What then are we to understand by the khan of Chim- 
ham ? It is, and always has been, the custom throughout the East for places 
to be provided for travellers — one in each village — where they might halt 
for the night. They are generally at distances of six or seven miles, so 
as to allow of an easy day's march from one to another. Bethlehem thus 
formed the first stage from Jerusalem, on the way to Egypt. The duty 
and honour of providing and maintaining these khans devolved upon the 




INTERIOR OF KHAN. 



sheikh or head man of the village, who was empowered to levy a tax 
upon the villagers for their support. Sometimes only a space of ground was 
staked out and fenced with thorns, so as to furnish protection against thieves 
and wild beasts. But often a wealthy sheikh would erect a substantial 
edifice, either defraying the cost himself or seeking aid in the work from the 
inhabitants. It seems almost certain, therefore, that Chimham either became 
Sheikh of Bethlehem, or else that, out of gratitude to his benefactor, he built 
a khan on a portion of the land he received from the king. Of these, the 
former is the more probable, and more in accordance with the custom of the 
country. One thing, however, seems clear, that long after the time of David, 
" the inn " at Bethlehem was well known as the khan of Chimham, and that_ 

So 



THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. 



it stood on land which had descended by inheritance from Boaz to Jesse, to 
David, and to David's adopted son. 1 Here was to be fulfilled the prophecy of 
Micah, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou . be little among the 
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto Me that is to be 
ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 2 

We thus come to that event, the glory of which transcends every other 
which has yet passed under our review. Here the Eternal God veiled yet 
manifested Himself in human form. The King of Glory is found " as a babe 
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." Omnipotence slumbered 
within an infant's arm. Omniscience lay concealed beneath an infant's brow- 
In the plain below us, the shepherds were keeping their flocks by night, when 
they heard the angelic anthem, " Glory to God in the highest, peace on 
earth, good will to men." Up that steep rocky path they came to see this 
great sight. Over that mountain-side the Wise Men brought their gifts of 
gold and frankincense and myrrh to pay homage to " the Desire of all nations." 
As we stand in the rock-hewn Chapel of the Nativity gazing upon the silver 
star on the floor, and read the words Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus 
natus est, even the most cold and apathetic can scarcely refrain from tears. 

But is this the actual spot ? Do we really stand on the very place 
where the Virgin " brought forth her first-born son and called His name 
Jesus"? There is everything in the surroundings of the place to awaken 
scepticism. This series of tawdrily decked chapels in which all the great 
events which have happened in Bethlehem are huddled together within one 
building almost compel incredulity. Here, for instance, is the altar of the 
Holy Innocents, and we are asked to believe that the remains of twenty 
thousand infants, slain by Herod, lie buried close by the place of the nativity, 
and we are shown the preserved tongue of one of them ! However willing 
we may be to accept the tradition, as to the site, we find it difficult to 
do so when it is mixed up with such preposterous legends as these. 

And yet the evidence for its authenticity is strong, though not quite con- 
clusive. The church stands upon a spot, just outside the village, which the inn 
or khan is very likely to have occupied. The " house of Chimham by Beth- 
lehem " was well known to the Jews, as we have seen, and when the khan of a 
village has been once established it is seldom that its site is changed. It con- 
tinues to occupy the same spot from age to age. We know that so early as 
the second century, Justin described our Lord's birth-place as "a cave near 
Bethlehem." And Jerome himself, a native of Syria and familiar with the 
customs and traditions of the country, took up his abode in an adjacent cave, 
that he might be near his Lord's birth-place. The fact that the Chapel of 
the Nativity is a grotto, though calculated to excite suspicion, is not of itself 

1 Hepworth Dixon, in his 'Holy Land,' endeavours to carry the argument a step further, and to show, by a com- 
parison of the phraseology in the books of Ruth and of Jeremiah, that it was erected on or close to the house of Boaz. 
His arguments are not without weight, but they are far from being conclusive. 

2 Micah v. 2. Matt. ii. 5, 6. John vii. 42. 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



fatal. It is by no means improbable that a cave contiguous to the inn 
might have served the purpose of a stable. It should further be remembered 
that the church may stand upon the site of the inn even though the Chapel 
of the Nativity has been placed in a cave in accordance with an erroneous 
and misleading superstition. Dean Stanley, summing up the evidence for 
and against the authenticity of the site, concludes with the remark, " There 
remains the remarkable fact that the spot was reverenced by Christians as 
the birth-place of Christ two centuries before the conversion of the empire — 




INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. 



before that burst of local religion which is commonly ascribed to the visit of 
Helena." 

Whilst feeling that the balance of probability is in favour of the 
authenticity of the site, there was one consideration which made me wish to 
come to a different conclusion. The degrading superstition and the dis- 
graceful discord which prevail here are a scandal to the birth-place of 
Christianity. Anything more alien to the spirit of the Prince of Peace can 
scarcely be conceived than the bitter hostility which rages amongst the three 
confessions — Latin, Greek, and Armenian — which share the sacred shrine. 



THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. 



The church — a noble edifice, with stately columns, probably brought from the 
Temple at Jerusalem — is no longer used for worship. It is held by a 
garrison of Turkish soldiers stationed to prevent bloodshed amongst the 




THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. 



monks and the pilgrims. Passing along the subterranean gallery, through 
the long series of gaudy chapels, acts of idolatry are witnessed the gross- 
ness of which recalls the fetish worship of Africa. Even a coldly scientific 

S3 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



geographer like Ritter cannot refrain from exclaiming, " Bethlehem has 
thus become a sacred name and a sacred place, although it is so poor .and 
mean and unimportant ; but unfortunately, to many who visit it, its higher 
significance is lost : they kiss the wood of the manger, but it is mere dry 
wood to them — they miss the living spirit which once began that earthly 
career there which had been prepared for it from before the foundation of 
the world." 1 

Leaving Bethlehem on the east, the road winds down a rocky slope, 
past fields of wheat and barley and terraced vineyards. Innumerable sheep 
and goats are seen on the hills around as in the days of Boaz and David. 
At the foot a level plain is reached, affording good pasturage, and dotted 
over with clumps of olive trees. This is called the Shepherds' Field, from the 
tradition that here they were keeping their flocks by night when the angels 
appeared to them. Soon the scenery becomes wild and desolate. In no part 
of the world have I seen anything with which to compare it. If the chalk- 
downs of the South of England were denuded of grass, were heaved up and 
tossed about in the throes of an earthquake, and the sides of the hills thus 
formed were cut into ravines by the fury of winter torrents, it would afford 
some illustration of the weird desolation of this Wilderness of Judea. The 
gorge of the Kedron runs steeply down from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, 
a descent of nearly four thousand feet. The wadies which seam the 
mountain-sides are dry in the summer, but in the winter form the beds 
of roaring torrents. Now and then a glimpse of the Dead Sea is gained — 
the deep blue of its waters gaining an additional intensity from the red or 
purple of the mountains of Moab, which form the background of the 
landscape. The black tents of the Bedouin, their flocks and herds feeding 
on the mountain-sides, an Arab horseman, or a string of camels with their 
noiseless tread, are the only signs of life in this region of sterility. 

In about three hours from Bethlehem, the Convent of Mar Saba is 
reached. It stands on the edge of the gorge of the Kedron, here from a 
thousand to twelve hundred feet deep, the rocky sides of which are almost 
precipitous, and at the bottom of the ravine are only a few yards apart. 
Looked at from beneath, parts of the building are seen to be literally clamped 
to the perpendicular walls of rock, and hang perilously over the abyss. 
Other portions of the edifice are constructed in chambers cut out of the 
mountain-side.' The labyrinth of caves, chambers, and passages is most be- 
wildering. Only an inmate of the convent can find his way from one part 
to another. What may be called the land side of the monastery is enclosed 
by a high wall of great thickness. The only entrance is by a massive gate, 
through which no one is admitted unless vouched for by the Greek patriarch 
at Jerusalem. Bedouin and women are not admitted at all. The former for 
the obvious reason that on several occasions, having forced their way in, they 

1 'Comparative Geography of Palestine.' By Carl Ritter. Vol. iii., p. 339. 

54 



CONVENT OF MAR SABA. 



massacred all the inmates. Ladies are excluded, because, as Miss Martineau 
bitterly expresses it, " the monks are too holy to be hospitable." The rule 
of the monastery is very rigid. The monks never eat meat, and subject them- 
selves to severe austerities. Though there is a valuable library, it seems to be 
entirely unused ; indeed, a majority of the ascetics are unable to read, and 
their only recreation consists in drinking raki, and in feeding the birds and 
Jackals, which are very numerous. 




CONVENT OF -MAR SABA. 

Only once, when I crossed the Mer de Glace at midnight, have I seen 
anything to compare with the wild, unearthly impressiveness of one view 
of this famous monastery. We had encamped at nightfall about a couple 
of miles above Mar Saba. The stars were shining with extraordinary 
brilliancy in a cloudless sky, and the moon was just coming above the 
horizon. I suggested an excursion along the bottom of the ravine, so as 
to see the convent from beneath. On proposing this to the Sheikh, he 
of course declared that it was impossible, no one had ever done it — 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



there was no road — he would not answer for our heads if we attempted 
it, with much more to the same purpose. But finding us determined to 
make a start, and .that there was a prospect of backshish, he withdrew his 
objections and despatched a party of Bedouin as guides and escort. The 
bottom of the gorge was in almost total darkness, but we could see the 
jagged peaks overhead, silvered with the moonlight. Stumbling along the bed 
of the Kedron, now perfectly dry, winding in and out amongst huge boulders, 
scrambling over masses of rock which blocked up the narrow passage, we 
made our way down the valley. No sound was heard, save our own footsteps 
and the howling of jackals. Every now and then, emerging silently as a 
ghost from behind a projecting crag or from the mouth of a cave, a Bedouin, 
armed with his long gun, would step forward, speak a few words to our 
escort, and then silently disappear. At length we reached a point 
immediately beneath the convent. The moon had now risen high enough to 
pour a flood of intense white light upon it whilst we were still wrapped 
in gloom. It seemed to be detached from earth, and to hang suspended in 
the heavens. The solitary palm tree, said to have been planted by St. Saba 
himself, stood out clear and distinct, every frond relieved against the deep 
blue of the sky behind it. Even our Bedouin escort, usually so insensible 
to natural scenery, seemed awed and impressed by the wild weird grandeur of 
the view. 

The Valley of Kidron begins its course on the east side of the 
Temple at Jerusalem, and runs down to the Dead Sea, through a barren, arid, 
waterless waste. It is thus the probable scene of the prophetic vision in which 
Ezekiel beholds the glory of " the latter days," when waters, issuing from 
beneath the altar, shall flow eastward in an ever deepening stream, bringing 
with them fertility and beauty wherever they come. " Very many trees " are 
seen to spring up along its banks on either side. Reaching the bitter, 
stagnant, poisonous waters of the Dead Sea, its desolate solitudes become the 
haunts of busy life. Fishers spread their nets from En-Eglaim to En-Engedi, 
for the fish have become as " the fish of the great sea, exceeding many." 
" And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, 
shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the 
fruit thereof be consumed : it shall bring forth new fruit according to his 
months, because their waters they, issued out of the sanctuary : and the fruit 
thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." 1 Reading such 
promises of future blessings amid these desolate and sterile regions, we are 
impressively reminded that when " the spirit be poured upon us from on high, 
the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be accounted for 
a forest, . . . and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of 
righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." 2 

1 Ezek. xlvii. 1-12. Compare Rev. xxii. 1, 2 : where the symbolism of the Old Testament is adopted in the New, 
but lifted up into a higher sphere with the promise of yet diviner blessings. 2 Isa. xxxii. 15, 17. 

56 




1 



THE DEAD SEA. 



The strange unique conformation of the country which we noticed as we 
approached Mar Saba becomes even more extraordinary as we continue our 
journey eastward. The soil consists of a soft chalk or white marl, furrowed 
in every direction by a labyrinth of valleys and pits from fifty to a hundred 
feet deep, cut, ages ago, by torrents long since dried up, leaving fantastic 
flat-topped mounds of every conceivable shape, which Maundrell aptly compares 
to gigantic lime kilns. 

In a little more than three hours we find ourselves descending into the 
Valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. Reaching the plain, we ride 




NORTHERN SHORE OF THE DEAD SEA. 



through an extensive cane brake where the reeds are higher than our heads, 
and which is the haunt of wild boars, wolves, jackals, and leopards, and 
from which lions were driven out " from the swelling of Jordan." 1 

From this point all vegetation ceases, for the bitter, acrid waters are fatal 
alike to animal and vegetable life. Even sea-fish turned into the lake die 
immediately. 2 The beach is strewn with trunks of trees, bones of animals, 
and shells of fish brought down by the Jordan or by the winter torrents which 

1 Jer. xlix. 19 ; 1. 44. 

2 In a few rare and exceptional cases living organisms are alleged to have been found in the Dead Sea. In every 
case, however, it has been near the mouth of Jordan, the impetuous torrent of which, after heavy rains, penetrates into 
the sea for some distance without mingling with its waters. 

59 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



come from the mountain-sides. After tossing, perhaps for centuries, in the 
bitter brine, they are cast ashore so saturated with salt that the wood will 
scarcely ignite, and if it burn at all, only gives a feeble blue flame. Those 
gaunt skeletons of ancient trees are all the more ghastly from the fact that they 
are covered by a saline deposit of which the fine glittering crystals are found 
efflorescing all along the beach. It is caused by the evaporation either of 
the receding waters after the winter floods, or of the spray which is flung 
ashore by the winds, which rush with extraordinary violence between the 
rocky walls which hem in the valley. 




SOUTHERN SHORE OF THE DEAD SEA. EXPLORING PARTY OF LIEUT. LYNCH. 

Whilst the northern shore is thus a flat desolate waste, the view down 
the sea, looking southward, is not wanting in a solemn grandeur and beauty. 
The water, clear as crystal, is of a deep blue, almost purple ; its waves are 
crested with foam of a dazzling whiteness. Along the eastern shore the 
mountains of Moab stand like a mighty wall, the ridges and precipices of which 
slope down " in wild confusion to the shore, terminating in a series of per- 
pendicular cliffs, from twelve hundred to two thousand feet above the water." 
Though their outline is somewhat monotonous and unbroken, their marvellous 
colouring, which varies from a delicate pink to a rich crimson, invests them 
60 



THE DEAD SEA. 



with a magical beauty. Seen, especially in the morning or the evening 
light, their tints are quite unearthly. The mountains of the western side, 
though lower than those of the eastern, seldom rising above fifteen hundred 
feet, are more irregular and broken, at least as seen from the northern end, 
and assume forms of striking grandeur. The most characteristic feature of 
the southern shore is a vast ridge of fossil salt, called Jebel Usdum, which is 
cut into ravines and hollows by the action of winter torrents. Canon Tristram 
describes many of these in terms which recall the glacier caves of the Alps. 
The light gleaming through the roof produces an exquisite play of colour — green 
and blue and white of various shades. Columns of rock salt are constantly 




APPROACH TO ENGEDI. 



left standing, detached from the general mass. Travellers — forgetful of the 
fact that these isolated fragments are but of short duration, and are, in the 
course of a few years, washed away by the same agency which produced 
them — have often identified one or another with the pillar of salt referred 
to in Genesis xix. 26. Sulphur and bitumen, which are found throughout 
the whole region, are very abundant, and traces of ancient igneous action are 
more obvious here than elsewhere. 

Whilst the general character of the scenery is one of sterility and desolation, 
some of the wadies which run down to the sea are oases of the utmost 

fertility and beauty. Chief among these is that of Engedi or the Kid's 

63 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



fountain. It runs out on the western side of the sea in the direction of Hebron. 
Fertilised by a rill of pure water, and having an almost tropical temperature, 
it forms a perfect garden. Even the Arabs, who are usually so insensible to 
natural beauty, speak of it with enthusiasm. My servant Mohammed, on one 
occasion gathered twenty-five different varieties of flowers in a few minutes. 
Solomon sums up his description of the charms of the Shunammitess by saying, 
" My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire on the vineyards of Engedi." 1 
The vineyards, the palms and the balsam trees, which once abounded here, 
have disappeared, but traces of ancient cultivation remain ' to show what once 
it was and might be yet again. 

Under its original name of Hazezon-Tamar (the pruning of the palm 
trees), it was the scene of the first pitched battle in an organized campaign 
which history records. 2 Here, and in the adjoining Vale of Siddim, Chedor- 
laomer defeated his rebellous tributaries, the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, 
Zeboim, and Zoar, carrying away Lot and his family amongst the captives. 

Here amongst cliffs and precipices dwelt the Kenites when Balaam, 
looking across the valley from a height on the opposite side, uttered his 
impassioned prophecy, and said : 

" Strong is thy dwellingplace 

And thou puttest thy nest in a rock. 

Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, 

Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive." 3 

Here, too, David retired when hard pressed by Saul. He had to leave 
the neighbourhood of Ziph and Maon, just as many an Arab sheikh is accus- 
tomed to do at the present day, to escape from the tyranny, or the justice, of the 
government. In these inaccessible fastnesses he was safe from pursuit, almost 
from discovery. Behind him was the wilderness of Judea. Before him were 
the mountains of Moab in case further retreat should seem expedient. And 
here it was that heroic chief mercifully spared the life of his pitiless foe when 
the " Lord had delivered him into his hand." 4 

In more modern times the shores of the Dead Sea have been associated 
with two tragic events which add to the gloomy memories which enshroud it. 
Among the mountains on the eastern side, looking down upon the gorge of 
the Callirhoe, is Makaur, the ancient Machserus, in which John the Baptist 
took his place among " the noble army of martyrs." Dr. Tristram, the first 
European known to have visited it since the time of the Romans, says that 
he found amongst the ruins " two dungeons, one of them very deep, and its 
sides scarcely broken in. That these were dungeons, not cisterns, is evident 
from there being no traces of cement, which never perishes from the walls of 
ancient reservoirs, and from the small holes, still visible in the masonry, where 
staples of wood and iron had once been fixed. One of these must surely have 
been the prison-house of John the Baptist." On the western shore stood 

1 Song of Sol. i. 14. 2 Gen. xiv. 3 Num. xxiv. 21, 22. 4 I Sam. xxiii. 29; xxiv. 

64 



SIEGE OF MAS AD A. 



Masada, the palace-fortress of Herod, in which was enacted the last awful 
tragedy in the Jewish war of independence. Jerusalem had fallen. One 
fortress after another had surrendered to the Romans. This impregnable 
stronghold alone remained, held by a band of men who, with the courage of 
despair, determined to die rather than to yield. The fatal moment at length 
arrived at which further resistance was impossible. Eleazar, son of Judas 
the Galilean, called the garrison together and urged upon them that death was 
to be preferred to dishonour. Each man thereupon stabbed his wife and 
children to the heart, and lying down beside those whom he loved, bared his 
neck to the ten who were chosen by lot to consummate the slaughter. One of 
these last survivors then slew the other nine and, having set fire to the 
building, stabbed himself. When the Romans entered the breach on the 
morning of Easter Day a.d. 73, they found nothing but corpses and smouldering 
ruins. Two women and five children, who had hidden themselves in the 
vaults, alone survived to tell the tale, nearly a thousand persons having perished. 




MAKAUR, THE SITE OF ANCIENT MACH/ERUS. 



. But all other historical associations with this district shrink into insig- 
nificance in comparison with that fearful catastrophe, when the Lord over- 
whelmed and destroyed the guilty cities with fire from heaven. When " Lot 
lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered 
everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord," 1 he not only failed to take 
account of the licentiousness and " filthy conversation of the wicked," 2 choosing 
temporal wealth at the peril of his soul's welfare ; but he knew not or cared 
not that the soil was one vast arsenal filled with instruments of destruc- 
tion. The cities rested upon a bed of sulphur and bitumen. They were built 
and cemented from " the slime-pits of Siddim." 3 When the longsuffer- 
ing of God was exhausted and " the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was very 
great and their sin very grievous," the hour of judgment came. The 
destruction may have been altogether miraculous. Or it may have been 
brought about by miracle working through natural agencies. The whole 



1 Gen. xiii. 10. 



2 2 Peter ii. 8. 

F 



3 Gen. xiv. 10. Compare Gen. xi. 3. 

°5 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



region is volcanic. Lightnings flashing from heaven, and the bursting forth 
of the subterranean fires, may have turned the whole plain into " a burning \ 
fiery furnace," in which not the cities only but the very soil on which they 
stood were turned into one vast sea of flame. Imagination shudders at 




THE DEAD SEA NEAR MASADA. 



the awful spectacle when " the smoke ol the country went up like the smoke 
of a furnace." 

The exact site of the cities thus destroyed cannot be decided with 
certainty. It has been commonly supposed that the Dead Sea covers the 

66 



THE CITIES OF 



THE PLAIN. 




spot upon which they stood. Of 
this, however, we have no evi- 
dence in Scripture, and an ex- 
amination of the geology of the 
district shows that it is impos- 
sible. Those who would locate 
them on the plain to the south 
of the Sea, urge in proof of their 
view an early and continuous 
tradition to this effect, the pre- 
sence of a vast mountain of rock- 
salt which breaks up into iso- 
lated columns, the most re- 
markable of which has been 
£ called Lot's wife, and the simi- 
§ larity of names, Usdum being 
< identified with Sodom, Am rah 
£ with Gomorrah, and Zuweirah 
w with Zoar. But the biblical 
5 narrative rather points to the 
| conclusion that they stood on or 
° near the northern shore where 
^ the "well-watered plain" of the 
7 Jordan, even to this day, at- 
| tracts by its extraordinary fer- 
Q tility. 1 

w It is only within the pre- 

g sent generation that the physical 
conditions of the Dead Sea have 
s been subjected to scientific in- 
vestigation. Dean Stanley truly 
says, " Viewed merely in a 
scientific point of view, it is one 
of the most remarkable spots of 
the world." At some remote 
period beyond the range of his- 
tory or tradition, the Jordan 
seems to have flowed onward 
over what is now the elevated 

1 It is impossible here to enter into a full 
discussion of this question. The student is re- 
ferred to the works of Canon Tristram, and to 
the articles by Mr. Grove in Smith's ' Bible 
Dictionary.' 

F 2 67 



BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA. 



valley of Arabah into the Red Sea. By geological action, the nature of 
which cannot as yet be ascertained, the whole Jordan valley has sunk, so 
that the Sea of Galilee is probably six hundred feet, and the Dead Sea 
about thirteen hundred feet, below the level of the Mediterranean — a 
phenomenon without parallel on the earth's surface. The sea itself is divided 
into two unequal parts by a projecting tongue of land, called by the Arabs 
El Lisan (the tongue). The northern portion is very deep ; the greatest 
depth being given by Lieutenant Lynch at thirteen hundred and eight feet. 
Its bed, therefore, at this point would be twenty-six hundred feet below the 
level of the sea. The southern portion is much shallower, nowhere exceeding 
two fathoms. The depth, however, varies with the seasons. The total super- 
ficial area is about two hundred and fifty miles, which is nearly that of the 
Lake of Geneva. Its excessive density and saltness have been already referred 
to. Analysis gives the following results : 



Chloride of Magnesium ..... 145 '8971 

,, Calcium ... . . 31*0746 

,, Sodium (common salt) . . . 78" 5537 

,, Potassium ..... 6 '5860 

Bromide of Potassium ..... i - 374i 

Sulphate of Lime ...... 0*7012 



264' 1867 

Water 735" 8133 



1000 

It will thus be seen that one fourth part of the waters of the Dead Sea 
consists of various salts. 1 Hence its nauseous, bitter taste and its extraor- 
dinary density. My own experience was that I could not sink, however 
much I tried, and after bathing I found an acrid slime left upon the skin 
from which I could not rid myself for two or three days. 

1 The full meaning of this statement will be perceived when it is remembered that sea-water contains less than foui 
per cent, of salts, and more than ninety-six per cent, of pure water. 




THE WELL OF BETHLEHEM. 



68 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERU$AEEM. 



T EAVING the sterile desolate shores of the 
* — J Dead Sea, we ride in a north-westerly 
direction over a plain encrusted with salt 
and sulphur, through a morass over- 
grown by a jungle of reeds and rushes, 
and then enter upon the plain of the 
Jordan. The soil is cumbered with 
clumps of nubk, its thorns sharp as 
prongs of steel, and thickets of Zizypkus 
Spina Ckristi, from which tradition says 
that the crown of thorns was made. 
The osher or apple of Sodom, its flowers 
resembling those of the potato, its fruit 
green or yellow, attracts the eye by its 
deceitful beauty. Innumerable pools and 
rills of water, fed by the perennial fountains which spring up near the site 
of the ancient Jericho, nourish this rank and unprofitable vegetation. The 
climate is semitropical, in consequence of the deep depression of this part 
of the Jordan valley below the sea level. "Well watered" and with such a 
climate, the district once was and might still be, an Eden of fertility and 
beauty. 1 Now its only settled inhabitants are a few wild and lawless, squalid 
and poverty-stricken Arabs. 

Turning eastward, we soon reach the Fords of the Jordan, the tradi- 
tional site of our Lord's baptism and the present bathing place of the pilgrims. 
The river comes down from the Sea of Galilee in a turbid impetuous stream. 
It has cut its channel so deeply in the marly soil, that throughout the 

1 Gen. xiii. 10. 




ER RIHA, NEAR JERICHO. 



69 



r 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



greater part of its course it is hidden from view. From any elevated point, 
however, it is easy to trace its course, from the fringe of bright green 
which marks it. Innumerable willows, oleanders, and tamarisks grow upon 
its banks and overhang the river-bed. Hence the incident recorded of the 
sons of the prophets, who, in the days of Elisha, went down to the Jordan 
to cut timber, one of whom let the head of a borrowed axe fall into the 
river. 1 

As we contrast this muddy, turbulent torrent, rushing unprofitably along 




PLAIN OF 1HE JORDAN NEAR J JERICHO, 



its deep cut channel, with the clear bright waters of Damascus, which spread 
fertility and prosperity wherever they come, it is easy to understand the 
scornful words of Naaman the Syrian : " Are not Abana and Pharpar rivers 
of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? ... So he turned and 
went away in a rage." 2 

Like the Dead Sea, the physical phenomena of the Jordan are absolutely 
unique. Emerging from the Sea of Galilee at a probable depression of six 
hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean, it rushes along a narrow 

1 2 Kings vi. 2-5. 2 Ibid. v. 12. 

70 



THE RIVER JORDAN. 



fissure of sixty miles in length ; but doubling and winding as it goes, its 
actual course is two hundred miles. Starting from so low a level, its current 
might be expected to be slow and torpid. So far from this, it plunges over a 
series of rapids, 1 and finally loses itself in the Dead Sea, to emerge no more, 
at a depth of thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean. 
No river famous in history is so unproductive and useless. Like the Upper 
Rhone, its rapid torrent and its sudden violent floods, 2 make it an object 
rather of dread than delight to the dwellers on its banks. Yet, even in 




BANKS OF THE JORDAN. 



these physical characteristics, we can see its admirable adaptation to the 
divine purpose. The Israelites were to be cut off from intercourse with the 
licentious idolaters on the east bank of the Dead Sea. A river easily 
crossed, with numerous fords and bridees, would have failed to answer 
this purpose. But the Jordan, though only from twenty to thirty yards 
wide, offered an almost insuperable barrier to intimate association, the fords 
being few and dangerous, and the floods rendering bridges almost impossible. 

1 Lieutenant Lynch enumerates twenty-seven, of great violence, between the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea. 
- From these the prophets often deduced lessons of warning for the impenitent. Thus Jeremiah says, " If in the land 
of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan ?" Jer. xii. 5. 

7? 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



Crossing the plain in a westerly direction, we reach, in about an hour, 
a wretched village of mud huts, dominated by a single ruinous tower. 
Its modern name is Er Riha. Near it was the site of the ancient Gilgal. 
Here the column of stones, taken from the bed of the Jordan, was piled ; 
here the first camp in the promised land was pitched ; here the cove- 
nant with God was renewed by the celebration of the passover and the 

circumcision of the people; here "the 
manna ceased" and "they did eat of 
the old corn of the land, unleavened 
cakes and parched corn on the self- 
same day ;" and here it was that " the 
Captain of the Lord's host," with "a 
sword drawn in his hand," appeared to 
Joshua to encourage him in the conflicts 
which yet awaited him. 1 It is not to 
be wondered at that something of sanc- 
tity should attach to a spot hallowed 
with such memories and associations as 
these. Hence we find that the Taber- 
nacle remained at Gilgal during the 
stormy period which followed till it was 
removed to its resting-place in Shiloh. 2 
And in after ages the people still assem- 
bled to offer sacrifices on the spot so 
memorable in their history. 3 As this 
was in a certain sense the cradle, if not 
j the birth-place, of the national existence, 
we find that it was at Gilgal that Saul 
was made king, 4 and that the men of 
Judah assembled to reinstate David upon 
the -throne on his return from exile. 5 
From the residence of Elijah and Elisha 
in Gilgal, and from the events which are 
recorded to have happened there, it is 
clear that a school of the prophets continued to exist on the site of the ancient 
sanctuary down to a late period of the monarchy. 6 

• The sad tendency to apostacy and idolatry which cast so deep a shadow 
over the history of the Jews, was specially manifest on this sacred spot, for 
we find Hosea and Amos singling out Gilgal for special censure and de- 
nunciation, 7 teaching that no sanctity of place, no hallowed memories, no 




DEAD J£A 



THE JORDAN, 

I'KOM THE SEA OF GALILEE TO THE DEAD SEA. 



1 Joshua iv.v. 2 Ibid, xviii. I. 

1 Ibid. xi. 15. 5 2 Sam. xix. 15. 

See the various references to Gilgal in the Books of the Kings. 

7 Hosea iv. 15 ; ix. 15 ; xii. II. Amos iv. 4 ; v. 5. 



3 1 Sam. x. 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERICHO. 



outward influences, can avail to check the corruptions of "an evil heart of 
unbelief in departing from the living God." 1 

About half an hour after leaving Er Riha, we reach some mounds of 
crumbling debris at the foot of a range of barren precipitous mountains, which 
form the western boundary of the Jordan valley. It is the site of Jericho. 
The soil around it is fertile as ever. Its fountains still pour forth streams 
over the "well watered" plain. Nowhere has the primaeval curse fallen more 
lightly. With the slightest effort on the part of man, the whole region would 
become a garden. But alas ! it is a desolate waste. The Bedouin lead their 
flocks across the plain as did the patriarchs of old. But there is no other 
sign of human life. The groves of palm trees which once stretched for miles 
around the city and gave it its name, 2 have disappeared. One solitary sur- 
vivor lingered up to the year 1835, but this, too, has now perished. Nothing 
is left to break the depressing sense of solitude and desolation. The curse 
pronounced upon the doomed city still seems to linger amongst its ruins : 
" Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city of 
Jericho : he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his 
youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof." 3 

Standing upon the mounds which mark the site of the ancient city, and 
looking eastward, we have immediately behind us the range of mountains 
and table-land, which stretching westward, as far as the plains of Sharon, 
formed the territory of Judah and Benjamin. Before us is the plain of the 
Jordan here at its widest. The long wall-like chain of the mountains of 
Moab bounds the view on the east. Numerous ravines, each of which is 
memorable in the wars of the Israelites, intersect the range. The vast plains 
which stretch northward and eastward afford splendid grazing ground, now 
as of yore, when the flocks and herds of the Midianites wandered over them, 
when " Gilead was a place for cattle" and the "oaks," "the rams," and "the 
bulls of Bashan " were symbols of agricultural and pastoral wealth." 4 

Looking across the valley, attention is arrested by the numerous conical 
hills rising from the flat table-land which is supported by the mountain chain. 
Many of these attain considerable height, not only from the plain below, but 
from the plateau on which they rest. Of these, one holds a conspicuous 
place in early Hebrew history. Balak, king of Moab, alarmed at the rapid 
and irresistible progress of the children of Israel, and despairing of checking 
their advance, sends across the Euphrates to bring thence the seer whose 
incantations may seduce or overcome the mighty God who had given them 
the victory. He knew not that — 

" God is not a man that He should lie ; 
Neither the son of man that He should repent : 

1 Heb. iii. 12. 2 Deut. xxxiv. 3 ; Judges i. 16 ; iii. 13. 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. 

3 Joshua vi. 26. After the lapse of five centuries the curse was fulfilled, 1 Kings xvi. 34. 

4 Num. xxxii. I. Deut. xxxii. 14. Ps. xxii. 12. Ezek. xxxix. 18. Zech. xi. 2. 

77 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



Hath He said, and shall He not do it ? 

Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good . . . 

Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, 

Neither is there any divination against Israel." 

He had brought the seer to the top of Pisgah, whence he might command a 
view of the encampment of Israel in the plain below and of the whole 
promised land. Vain are all sacrificial rites, all magical arts, all offers of wealth 
and power. He who was brought to curse can only bless, " And Balaam rose 
up and went to his place: and Balak also went his way." 1 

Yet again we find Israel encamped in the plains of Moab, on the eastern 
bank of the Jordan. Their forty years' wanderings are ended. They are now 
to go in and possess the good land. But their heroic leader is not to go before 
them. Though " a hundred and twenty years old, his eye was not dim, nor 
his natural force abated." 2 He might, therefore, have looked forward to 
a further period of active service ; at least he might have hoped to reap with 
his own hand the harvest for which he had toiled and waited so many weary 
years. But it was not to be. He must climb " the mountain of Nebo, to 
the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho " — the very height upon which 
Balaam had stood. There " the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, 
unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and 
all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain 
of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar." 3 Ignorance 
of the topography of Palestine has led many to conclude that this extended 
vision was physically impossible, to be accounted for only by miracle ; or 
by the deniers of miracles, to be rejected as mythical and legendary. So 
far is this from being the case, that modern travellers, who have been per- 
mitted to 

" Stand where Moses stood, 
And view the landscape o'er," 

have described the scene in words which only fill up the outline of the 
inspired narrative. The whole extent of Palestine lies stretched out like a 
map from the snowy summit of Hermon on the north, to the Mediterranean 
on the west, and the granite peaks of Arabia on the south. 

Innumerable legends have gathered about the death of Moses on Nebo. 
The Talmud abounds with them. Josephus rises to true pathos and poetry 
as he describes its traditionary incidents. The Mohammedans have wild 
weird myths of the war which raged amongst the spirits of good and evil 
around his dying form, and they perform pilgrimages to his legendary tomb 
on the mountain just above Jericho. All we know is that "Moses the 
servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word 
of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over 

1 Num. xxii — xxiv. 2 Deut. xxxiv. 7. 3 Ibid, verses 1-3. 

78 



THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN. 



against Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." 1 
Even in Palestine itself there are few spots upon which the eye rests with a 
deeper sense of awe, and mystery, and reverential wonder than as we look 
across the Ghor of the Jordan and gaze upon this peak, glowing in the light 
of the setting sun, where the prophet of the Lord breathed his last earthly 
sigh, and awoke in the presence of his God. 

As soon as the days of mourning for their great leader had been 
accomplished, his chivalrous successor set the host in motion. Passing, probably, 
down the Wady Hesban, they encamped in the valley of the Jordan. To 
cross the river in the presence of their enemies would at any time have 
been a difficult and dangerous operation. The fords were few, the river rapid, 
the banks steep. And Jordan was now in flood. It had filled up its banks 
and was absolutely impassable. Confiding, however, in divine aid, the signal 
to advance is given. The priests march first, bearing with them the ark. A 
mile in their rear are the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of 
Manasseh fully armed, so as to resist any attack made upon them by their 
foes. 2 No sooner had the feet of the priests touched the brimming waters 
of the river, than the stream ceased to flow downward, being cut off at a 
point nearly thirty miles above, at the city of Zaretan, leaving the bed dry 
till the whole people had passed safely over. We are told, respecting the 
similar miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea, that "the Lord caused the 
sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night." 3 The enquiry 
suggests itself whether any natural agency, working under the control of a 
divine power can be suggested to account for this drying up of the Jordan. 
It has been already remarked that the whole region is volcanic and subject 
to earthquakes. It is, therefore, a possible conjecture that such a convulsion 
of nature may have occurred at this critical moment, so that for a time the 
bed of the Jordan was laid bare "from the city of Adam, that is beside 
Zaretan." 4 We need not, however, feel any anxiety to explain these divine 
interpositions by the action of natural laws. He who instituted the laws of 
nature and uses them for His purposes as He pleases, can, when it seems good 
to Him, dispense with them altogether. The fact of the miracle is certain, 
account for it how we please : " this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous 
in our eyes." 

The siege of Jericho speedily followed. The same divine power which 
dried up the bed of the river (perhaps working through the same natural 
agency) caused the walls of the city to "fall down after they were compassed 
about seven days ;" and Rahab, who had " received the spies with peace," 

1 Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6. 

- It is significant that these are the tribes to whom possessions had already been allotted east of the Jordan (Num. xxxii. 
20-28). The selection was probably made either to prove their fidelity, or because they were free from encumbrances, 
their families and possessions being left in their newly-acquired territory. 

3 Exod. xiv. 21. 

4 Joshua iii. 16. In the great earthquake of 1837 this did happen to many of the rivers of Northern Syria. 

79 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



was spared to be enrolled amongst the chosen people, and even in the 
ancestry of our Lord, as the reward of her faith." 1 

Whilst still encamped near Jericho, Joshua undertook two important 
military exploits. One has been already described — the relief of the city of 
Gibeon and the defeat of the Amorites in the valley of Ajalon. The other 
has yet to be spoken of. In the mountain range which rises immediately to 
the west of the Jordan valley, are several passes which run up into the 
interior of the country. At the head of one of these stood the city of Ai, 
near to Bethel. It was an important stronghold, and its acquisition by the 
Israelites would secure them a firm and commanding position in central 
Palestine. A small detachment of men was therefore ordered to advance up 
the pass and attack the city, whilst the main body remained at Jericho. 
They were, however, defeated with great slaughter by the men of Ai and 
had to retreat down the steep defile. The sin of Achan having been detected 
and punished, a new assault was ordered by divine command, which proved 
successful. 2 The acquisition of this almost impregnable post made Joshua 
master of the whole of Southern Palestine, to the subjugation of which he 
could now proceed at leisure. 

It was along the same pass that, in after years, Elijah and Elisha went 
up from Gilgal to Bethel and again returned to Jericho. Then crossing the 
plain, they proceeded to the Jordan, whilst " fifty men of the sons of the 
prophets " climbed the mountains in the rear, which command a view of the 
whole region, and "stood to view afar off." At the place where the children 
of Israel had crossed the river under Joshua, the prophet took off his mantle, 
and smiting the waters they again parted, so that " they two went over on 
dry ground." Here, perhaps, on the very spot where Moses had died and 
was buried, Elijah " went up by a whirlwind to heaven." The two, who 
were thus mysteriously associated in their departure from earth, were to return 
to it together, and on the Mount of Transfiguration, to speak with their Lord 
and ours, " of the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." 3 

Yet once again was the Jordan to be miraculously parted asunder at 
the same place. Elisha, returning to Jericho, smote the waters with the 
mantle of Elijah, and invoking " the Lord God of Elijah, the waters parted 
hither and thither, and Elisha went over." 4 

Reference has been made to the perennial fountains which rise around 
the site of Jericho. Most of the springs in the lower part of the Ghor are 
either brackish, or absolutely undrinkable. From their salt and acrid character 
they cause barrenness rather than fertility. 5 But there is one at the foot of 
the mounds which attracts attention from the purity, sweetness and abundance 
of its waters. It bears to this day the name of Elisha's Fountain, and is 

1 Joshua vi. Heb. xi. 30, 31. Matt. i. 5. An interesting article on Rahab in Smith's ' Bible Dictionary ' suggests 
reasons for believing that Salmon, who became her husband, was one of the spies whose lives she saved, and who, with 
herself, became an ancestor of our Lord. 

2 Joshua vii. ; viii. 3 2 Kings ii. 1-1 1. Luke ix. 30, 31. 4 2 Kings ii. 12-14. 5 Ibid. 19-22. 

80 



ELISHA'S FOUNTAIN. 



doubtless the one of which the historian speaks as having been healed by 
the word of Elisha speaking in the name of the Lord, " so the waters were 
healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake." 1 

Whilst we have no precise indication of the scene of our Lord's baptism 
yet a balance of probabilities seems to confirm the accuracy of the tradition 
that it was here, where the river had been thrice divided by miracle, that 
the event took place. John had been preaching in the wilderness of Judea 
which is just behind us. It was apparently in the same neighbourhood that 
he baptized the multitudes who came to him. And it was in immediate con- 
nection with his baptism that " Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned 
from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness, being forty days 
tempted of the devil." Though the Mons Quarantania, which rises imme- 
diately above Jericho, has only a vague tradition to associate it with the 
"forty days'" fast, 
yet it meets. all the 
requirements of the 
narrative, and its 
savage desolate soli- 
tude is in keeping 
with the spirit of the 
event. 

Once only do 
we read that our 
Lord actually visited 
Jericho. He had 
crossed the Jordan 
and preached " on 
i the further side." 2 
Recrossing the river, 

either by the fords or by the Roman bridge some distance up the stream on 
his way to Jerusalem, He passed through Jericho. The new city rebuilt by 
Herod, was now in the height of its splendour. Josephus describes the 
country round as surpassingly beautiful and fertile. Groves of palms and 
balsam-trees stretched far and wide. The roads leading to and from the city 
were shaded by sycamores. Having healed the blind man who sat by 
the wayside begging, He conferred a yet diviner boon upon Zaccheus, who in 
his eagerness to see the Lord had climbed into one of the wayside trees. 
Amidst the reproachful murmurs of the people, He went to be the guest of 
a man that was a sinner, bringing salvation to his house, "for the Son of 
man is come to seek and save that which was lost. . . . And when He had 
thus spoken He went before, ascending up to Jerusalem." 3 
Thither let us follow Him. 

1 2 Kings ii. 22. 2 Matt. xix. I, 2. Mark x. I, 3 Luke xviii. 35-43 5 xix - I - 28 - 




ELISHA'S FOUNTAIN, NEAR JERICHO. 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



The road at first winds amongst the mounds of debris, so often referred 
to, past ruined aqueducts and water courses which in the time of our Lord 
conveyed the fertilizing streams to irrigate the plain. The mountains above 
us are honey-combed by cells of hermits, who came here to live useless ascetic 
lives, where our Lord had fasted, prayed, and been tempted of the devil. 
Soon we begin to ascend and find ourselves skirting the edge of a savage 
ravine which plunges sheer down to a depth of five hundred feet.' It is the 
Wady Kelt — once known as the valley of the Cherith, where the prophet 
Elijah was fed by ravens, 1 and, in still earlier times, as the valley of Achor 
in which Achan was stoned. 2 




Lent by the Palestine Exploration Fund. 

BATHING-PLACE OF PILGRIMS ON THE JORDAN. 



The ascent is continuous and steep. In a distance of about fifteen miles 
we rise more than three thousand feet. Hence the constant phrases "going 
up to Jerusalem," "going down to Jericho." On every side are steep mountains 
and wild glens, the haunt of plundering Bedouins, so that a strong and 
vigilant escort is needful. 

About midway on our journey, we pass the ruins of an ancient khan. 
In accordance with oriental custom, noticed before, by which khans seldom or 
never change, but occupy the same spot from age to age, a halting place for 

1 I Kings xvii. 1-7. 2 Joshua vii. 

82 



THE " GOOD SAMARITAN'S" INN. 



travellers has stood here from immemorial antiquity. This then is the inn 
to which our Lord referred in his parable of the Good Samaritan. The road 
then, as now, was notorious for its insecurity. Reading on the spot the 
narrative of the traveller, who going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, was 
stripped, wounded, and left for dead on the road-side, every incident and 
detail acquired new significance and appropriateness. 

From this point the wild weird desolation of the earlier part of our journey 
ceased, and gave place to the rounded featureless hills which characterise the 
scenery of Southern Palestine. About midday we reached the Ain el Haud, or 
" The Apostle's Fountain," and halted awhile. Before us rose a steep ascent 
up which wound a rough mountain road. It was the Mount of Olives. 
Reaching the summit we should look down upon Jerusalem ! 

I proposed to one or two of our party that we should walk on alone, 
so as to indulge, 
without restraint, in 
the emotions which 
such a view would 
excite. The pro- 
posal was heartily 
agreed to, and we 
started. The day 
had been showery, 
and, though not ac- 
tually raining at the 
moment, the clouds 
were black and 
heavy. Scarcely 
had we commenced 
the ascent when 
the rain began to 

fall in torrents. The stiff, tenacious mud, and the slippery sheets of 
rock over which the track led, made the walk very difficult ; but still we 
persevered. Soon a miserable, ruinous, poverty-stricken hamlet came in 
view, standing on a plateau of rock in a slight depression on the hill-side. 
The pasturage around it was good and abundant, and the olive groves ought 
{ to have been a source of wealth to the inhabitants. Under a better system 
of government, and with a more industrious population, it might have been 
a bright and prosperous village ; but now its only attraction consists in its 
hallowed associations. It is Bethany — the home of Martha and Mary and 
Lazarus — the one spot on earth where He who " had not where to lay his 
head " found a loving welcome and a peaceful home. It has always seemed 
to me to be not without meaning that our Lord, on his Ascension, " led his 
disciples out as far as to Bethany," so that the last spot his eyes looked 

G 2 83 




JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



upon, and his feet pressed before He left the earth which rejected Him should 
be the one in which He had been a loved and honoured guest. 

The old name of Bethany has disappeared, together with the palm-trees, 
which once were in such profusion as to win for it this distinctive epithet.' 
The memory of the raising of Lazarus has lived so vividly in Arab legend, 
that the name El-'Aziriyeh has supplanted the earlier and biblical one. 

Of course traditional sites are pointed out for all the events of the 
biblical narrative. The houses of Simon and of Martha and the grave of 
Lazarus are shown. The former may be dismissed without a glance or 
thought. They are evidently modern erections, certainly not earlier than the 
Saracenic period, and probably much more recent. But the tomb of Lazarus 
may be authentic. The masonry, indeed, is modern, but the sepulchre itself, 
a deep recess cut into the rock, is apparently ancient, and, so far as I could 
judge, was originally a tomb. It is entered by a narrow passage, with twenty- 
five steps, leading to a cubiculum. The tradition which identifies it with " the 
cave," in which the "friend," whom "Jesus loved" was buried, has a respectable 
antiquity, going back, at least, to the time of Arculf (a.d 700). Whether 
this be the exact spot or not, we know that very near where we stand the 
memorable words were uttered : "I am the Resurrection and the Life : he 
that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." 2 

Escaping from the rabble of Arabs clamouring for backshish, we 
resumed our journey. The rain had ceased, and a few breaks in the clouds 
encouraged a hope that we might gain a view of the city not utterly 
disappointing. But we were quite unprepared for the view which awaited us 
on reaching the summit of Olivet. Seen under any circumstances, it is one 
never to be forgotten. The deep ravine of the Kedron below us — the city 
on the opposite hill, with its grey venerable walls, its broad marble platform, 
in the centre of which stands the exquisite dome of the mosque of Omar — ■ 
the picturesque mass of cupolas and minarets standing out against the sky — 
the surrounding valleys and hills dotted with villages and ruined towers and 
olive groves — need no aid from the associations of the spot to make it a most 
striking view. But when we add those associations — so sacred, so tender, so 
sublime — it is not to be wondered at that every visitor feels himself at a loss 
to express the emotions which it awakens. 

Nothing, however, which I had heard or read had prepared me for the 
view which broke upon us as we ascended the minaret on the summit of 
Olivet. The vast marble platform of the Temple, the dome of the mosque, 
the roofs of El-Aksa, the innumerable cupolas and flat roofs of the city, were 
all running with water from the heavy rain. Through rifts in the clouds long 
slanting beams of sunlight fell upon them with a dazzling splendour. The 

1 See, however, an interesting note by the late Dr. Deutsch in Dixon's ' Holy Land,' in which it is maintained that 
Bethany meant not, as is commonly supposed, " the house of dates " but " the house of poverty." He fails, however, to 
take note of the fact that as we have a Mount of Olives, a house of figs (Bethphage), and a house of bread (Bethlehem), 
so we might naturally have a house of dates in the same locality. 2 John xi. 25. 

84 



VIEW FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 



city flashed and shone like molten silver. All the meanness and squalor of 
its degradation was lost in the radiance which veiled it. The storm-clouds 
had drifted away eastward, and settled dark and heavy over the valley of the 
Dead Sea, blotting it out from view by their gloomy mass. Above the line of 
clouds rose the mountains of Moab, purple in the light of the descending sun. 
Only one more touch of beauty, only one more suggestion of hallowed thought, 
was possible. This was furnished by a rainbow — symbol of Divine mercy and 
compassion — spanning the storm-cloud which hung above the valley of Sodom. 
On the one side was the city of God, radiant in the "clear shining after rain;" 
on the other the city of destruction, veiled in darkness and gloom, yet not 
utterly abandoned by our gracious and covenant-keeping God. 

Impressive as is the view which bursts upon us from the summit of the 
Mount of Olives, even now that Jerusalem lies in its misery and degradation, it 
must have been far grander 
when our Lord, on his way 
from Bethany, standing upon 
this very spot beheld the city 
and wept over it, saying, "If 
thou hadst known, even thou, 
at least in this thy day, the 
things which belong unto thy 
peace ! but now they are hid 
from thine eyes." 1 The valley 
at our feet was at least sixty 
feet deeper then than it is at 
present. The accumulation of 
debris, the result of repeated 
sieges, has not only filled it up 
to that extent, but has choked up the bed of the Kedron, so that it has either 
ceased to flow altogether, or only trickles almost imperceptibly amongst the 
stones. The trees which once clothed the hills and the gardens which lay 
along the banks of the stream have disappeared. The face of the rock upon 
which the Temple stands, then went down almost precipitously, so that, as 
Josephus tells us, the spectator, standing upon the walls, grew dizzy as he 
looked into the ravine below him. Now mounds of rubbish, through which 
Captain Warren sank a shaft to the depth of a hundred feet before he 
reached the virgin soil, rest against the rock and rise almost to the foot of the 
walls. The Temple itself was a marvel of splendour and beauty. Built of 
costly marbles, overlaid with gold, and adorned with jewels, it shone re- 
splendently when the light of the rising or the setting sun fell upon it, as 
though another sun was setting or rising. Of all this magnificence, nothing 
remains save the vast marble platform upon which it stood. Well might the 

' Luke xix. 42. 

87 




CHURCH ON THE SUMMIT OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 



JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM. 



disciples listen with reluctance or incredulity as our Lord foretold the impend- 
ing destruction of a city "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth." 

Slowly we descended from the summit, lingering at many points to recall 
the hallowed associations of the scene, or turning aside to gain some fresh 

point of view. We 
remembered not only 
that our Lord had 
often trodden these 
very paths in his 
journey between 
Bethany and Jeru- 
salem, or gone out to 
spend the night upon 
the Mount of Olives, 
"as he was wont," 1 
but that David, in 
his flight from the 
city "went up by 
the ascent of Mount 
Olivet and wept as 
he went up, and had 
his head covered, and 
he went barefoot : 
and all the people 
that was with him 
covered every man 
his head, and they 
went up, weeping as 
they went up." 2 

Passing the Gar- 
den of Gethsemane, 
and crossing the 
Kedron, we entered 
by St. Stephen's 
Gate. Skirting the 
Temple area, travers- 
ing the length of the Via Dolorosa, slipping on the slimy stones or plunging 
ankle deep into the mud of the wretched streets, we emerged at the Jaffa Gate 
and found our camp pitched on the edge of the Valley of Hinnom. 




ST. STEPHEN S GATE. 



Luke xxii. 39. 



2 2 Sam. xv. 30. 



88 



J li T; L' S A L, F ( M 




TOMR OF ABSALOM. 



/^"Aur feet shall stand within thy gates, O 
Jerusalem." 1 Drawn by an irresistible 
attraction, pilgrims flock hither from the 
very ends of the earth. The crumbling 
walls, the squalid filthy streets, the 
mouldering ruins, are regarded with a 
profound and reverential interest by mil- 
lions of mankind, such as no other spot 
on earth can excite. To the Jew it is 
the centre alike of his patriotism and his 
religion. The Christian remembers that 
here the Son of God was crucified for the 
sins of the world. The Mohammedan, 
retaining in a mutilated and distorted 
form, the great facts of Jewish and of Christian scripture, and adding to them 
the legends of his own prophet, regards Jerusalem as second, and hardly second, 
in sanctity to Mecca itself. Nowhere else are the representatives of such various 
nationalities to be found as in this meeting-place of the three great mono- 
theistic faiths which have spread so widely over the habitable globe. Jews 
who have travelled on foot from Poland or Morocco, may be seen weeping 
outside the temple walls. Greeks, Latins, Armenians, Copts, kneel side by 
side with worshippers from America, from Australia, and from every nation in 
Europe. Nubians, Hindoos, Affghans, Persians, Tartars, Arabs, prostrate 

1 The etymology of the word Jerusalem is much disputed. " The vision of peace," "the inheritance of peace," 
" the foundation of peace," all have their advocates. Others understand it as compounded of Jebus-salem, i.e., Salem of 
the Jebusites. Throughout the Moslem world it is now known as El-Kuds, the holy city, or as El Kuds esh Shereef, the 
holy, noble city. Herodotus is thought to have referred to it as Cadytis. In this case, as in so many others throughout 
Palestine, the modern Arabic name is simply a return to a more ancient one. 



JERUSALEM. 



themselves before the sacred rock from whence their prophet commenced his 
fabled journey to heaven, or gaze with awe on the spot to which he will, as 
they believe, return to judge the world. 

The city, which holds so conspicuous a place in the later Scriptures, is in 
the earlier ones only referred to incidentally or obscurely. It is commonly 
identified with the Salem of which Melchizedec was king ; and Mount 
Moriah, upon which Abraham was about to offer up Isaac, is thought to be 
the same with that on which the Temple was afterwards built. Dean 
Stanley argues strongly against this view, and would transfer the city of 
Melchizedec to a town, the site of which is marked by a village still bearing 




PLAN OF JERUSALEM, FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY. 



the name of Salem, near the ancient Shechem. The sacrifice of Isaac he 
would likewise place in the same neighbourhood on the summit of Gerizim. 
Though his arguments are weighty and deserve serious consideration, they 
cannot be accepted as conclusive. That the king of Jerusalem, in the clays 
of Joshua, 1 bore a name or title almost the precise equivalent of that of the 
king of Salem, who was Abraham's friend, is an important fact in the 
discussion. Adonizedec, the Lord of righteousness, would be a probable 
successor of Melchizedec, the Kingr of righteousness. 

But whilst Jerusalem was thus probably associated with two most 
memorable events in the life of Abraham, it was not till the time of David 

1 Joshua x. I. 

90 



EARLY HISTORY OF JERUSALEM. 



that the city rose into prominence. In his day it was regarded as an 
impregnable stronghold. The Jebusites, confident in the strength of their 
position, treated the attacks of the besiegers with derision, and placed upon 
their walls, the blind and the lame as an adequate garrison, " thinking, 
David cannot come in hither. . . . Nevertheless David took the stronghold 
of Zion." 1 Stung by the taunt and incited by the promise of the king, Joab 
stormed the citadel and received the command-in-chief of the army as a 
reward of his desperate exploit. David, who had hitherto reigned in Hebron, 
now removed his capital to Jerusalem. The reasons for this are obvious. 
At Hebron he was isolated from the great bulk of his subjects ; Jerusalem, 
though not central, was yet not very remote from the Northern tribes ; it was 
on the frontier of his own tribe of Judah and partly within that of Benjamin, 
whose allegiance he thus secured. Military considerations were even more 
decisively in favour of the new capital. Nor must we overlook the divine 
guidance which thus prepared the way for the erection of the Temple on the 
chosen and favoured spot. Little did the rude rough soldier, when " getting 
up by the gutter and smiting the Jebusites," think for what mighty events he 
was preparing the way. 

The city fortified by David, enriched and adorned by Solomon, 2 has 
continued, with varying fortunes, to occupy the same spot to the present 
day. Its continuity, however, like that of the human body, is a constant 
sequence of destruction and reconstruction, ever perishing yet ever renewed. 
In addition to the corroding influence of time and the destructive agencies of 
earthquake and fire, it has suffered yet more severely from the violence of 
man. Perhaps no city in the world has undergone so many or such 
disastrous sieges. Roman, Persian, Saracen, Christian, Turk, have succeeded 
one another in the work of devastation. Again and again it has been laid 
utterly waste, and continued for years to be desolate and forsaken. 

The result of this long succession of destructive agencies is, that of 
ancient Jerusalem scarcely a trace or vestige remains. The city of David 
and Solomon lies buried far beneath the ruins of edifices which have 
succeeded it. It is even difficult to say, with certainty, that we can find 
undoubted remains above the soil of the city of Herod. The great Tyro- 
paean valley which divided Zion from Acra has been filled up with debris, 
leaving only a slight depression. We cannot even trace the line of the 
ancient walls except where they ran along the edge of the ravine, which 
bounds the city on the east and south. The whole topography of Jerusalem 
is hence involved in the utmost confusion. The most elementary facts as to 
the localities indicated by the inspired narrative, have been for years the theme 
of keen and angry dispute. Whilst the controversial literature on the subject 
might fill a moderately-sized library, we seem almost as far from a satisfactory 
settlement of the question as ever. 

1 2 Sam. v. 6-8. I Chron. xi. 4-6. 2 2 Sam. v. 9. 1 Kings x. 27. 

91 



JERUSALEM. 



The general outline of the country and the great natural features of the 
landscape are, indeed, distinct and unmistakeable. The mountains round 
about Jerusalem, the valleys which encompass it, and the ridge on which it 
stands, remain as they were in the days of the patriarchs and prophets and 
apostles. Looked at from any of the surrounding heights, we feel no 
difficulty in identifying the objects which meet our view. The scene which 
lies outstretched before us from the summit of the Mount of Olives, has 




RUINS NEAR THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



been so truthfully and graphically sketched by Lady Strangford, that we 
cannot do better than reproduce her description : 

" Let us sketch in slightly what we see : the bare hill to the south of 
the city, with one miserable wind-worn tree on its brow, is the Hill of Evil 
Counsel (where Caiaphas and the elders are said, upon no authority, however, 
to have taken counsel together 1 ). It is rocky and irregular, sloping off to 
the west and dying down in the Plain of Rephaim. On the north, long 
ridges of low barren hills or plains, stony and bare, though dotted with 

1 Matt. xxvi. 3. 



GENERAL ASPECT OF THE CITY. 



olives here and there, stretch one behind another. They seem to rise gently 
from the city until the monotony is broken by the low peak of Neby 
Samwil, marked by a tower, the ruin of an old convent church, since 
converted into a mosque. 




WALLS OF JERUSALEM. From a Photograph. 



" Between these two sides of the picture the Holy City stands, apparently 
on a square, rocky hill, enclosed in crenelated walls, with here and there a 
bastion or a zigzag — very quaint and very sad those old walls look, and yet 
something proudly, too, they stand — while beyond them a long, dull, flat 

95 



JERUSALEM. 



ridge rises slightly towards the west, and two deep narrow ravines sweep 
round the holy mountain — the one is the valley of Jehoshaphat, or of the 
Kedron, commencing from some distance to the north of the city, and 
running along the eastern side of it to the south. The other is the Valley 
of Hinnom, coming round from the western side and uniting with the Kedron 
at the south-east corner, embracing at that point, between them, the spur of 
Mount Moriah, which is called Ophel. Farthest from us, on the western 
wall, is the Tower of Hippicus. Near it, to the right, is the Latin Convent 
and the two domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To the left, on 

Mount Zion, the extensive Ar- 
menian Convent, the domes of some 
new synagogues, the English Church, 
and the tomb of David are seen 
(the last outside the wall). These 
are almost the only buildings on 
which the eye can rest among the 
confused mass of little brown and 
white domes and grey walls: nor are 
any of these seen at first, for the 
Mosque of Omar, in the famous 
Haram, the second most beautiful 
building in all the world, rivets all 
the spectator's attention. The wall 
enclosing the mosque occupies more 
than half the eastern side of the 
city — in the centre of which stands 
the mosque, an octagonal building, 
pierced with seven windows on each 
side, narrowing above into a small 
circle also pierced with windows, and 
surmounted by a most graceful dome, 
bearing aloft the gilt crescent of 
Islam ; the whole building is cased 
entirely in encaustic tiles — chiefly blue, green, purple, and yellow, formed 
into intricate and delicate arabesques, and so mingled that it is impossible 
to say whether the building is green or blue. The cornice is replaced by 
an Arabic inscription in large and prettily interlaced letters. The mosque 
stands on a marble platform, which is reached by broad flights of steps, and 
round the edge of which are several groups of slender arches and small houses, 
while little circular mikrabs, or praying-places, shaded by a light canopy of 
fretted stone, are dotted over its surface. Round this platform are grassy slopes, 
with noble cypresses and a few other trees, the bright and dark green of which 

contrast beautifully with the white and coloured marbles of the buildings. 

9 6 




STREET OF MODERN JERUSALEM. 



TOPOGRAPHICAL DIFFICULTIES. 



" At the southern end of the enclosure is the mosque of El Aksa, 
ornamented with a dome and covered by a sloping roof. The mosque of 
the Mogharibeh, the college of the Dervishes, and the Serai, the residence 
of the pasha, stand on the west and north sides — while the whole extent 
of the eastern side of the city is only broken by St. Stephen's Gate, 
and the long-closed ' Golden Gate,' with its two round arches and small 
domes. 

" This is the view over which Jesus wept, when He beheld its beauty, 
and thought upon its ruin and desolation ; and strange and thrilling, indeed, 
is the feeling it gives to one now : the gloomy ravines lose much of their 
effect seen from above : the surrounding hills are, one and all, the very 
dreariest, barrenest, and ugliest one can find anywhere, and yet the whole is 
beautiful, and even the fastidious and trifling are impressed by it." 

It is when we endeavour to fill in the details of the city itself that our 
difficulties and perplexities commence. They are caused partly by the vague 




SKETCH PLAN OF SITE OF JERUSALEM. After Robinson. 



and indefinite language of ancient historians and topographers, and partly by 
the fact that valleys have been filled up, hills have been levelled and 
successive cities have arisen upon the ruins of those which have preceded 
them, thus effacing the landmarks which would otherwise have guided us. 
Mediaeval and monkish traditions have likewise done much to obscure and 
pervert the true, topography of Jerusalem. Learning and labour have been 
wasted in the endeavour to defend theories which have nothing in their 
favour but ecclesiastical authority. Theological controversies have thus been 
imported into questions which ought to have been discussed only in the 
light of historical and geographical science. 

We know from Josephus that the city stood on two hills, divided by 
the Tyropaean Valley. One of these was Zion, the other Acra. We read 
likewise of Bezetha, Moriah, and Ophel. Did these last form a separate 
ridge or were they names given to parts of one of the former? If so, to 
which — Zion or Acra ? The sketch plan given above shows the conclusion 



JERUSALEM. 



arrived at by Dr. Robinson, who maintains that there were three separate 
hills. Other writers of scarcely inferior authority identify the Temple ridge 
with Zion — others again with Acra. Notwithstanding the confident dogmatism 
with which each of these views has been maintained, I cannot say that 
any of them have carried full conviction to my own mind. It is to be hoped 

that the explorations now in 
progress may throw some light 
upon these obscure questions. 

No less conflicting are the 
views as to the sites of the 
Sepulchre and of the Temple. 
Though the Temple claims 
priority in the order of historical 
sequence, yet, for reasons which 
will subsequently appear, we 
first consider the site of the 
Sepulchre. 

The church of the Holy 
Sepulchre stands in a crowded 
part of the city, at some distance 
to the north-west of the Temple 
area. It is a comparatively 
modern structure, no portion 
being probably older than the 
period of the Crusades. It is 
entered through a courtyard, in 
which a market is now held for 
the sale of trinkets, rosaries, 
pictures and curiosities. And 
just inside the principal entrance 
a Turkish guard is stationed to 
keep order, and repress disturb- 
ances amongst the hostile sects 
and nationalities who visit it. 

In passing round the church, 
attention is distracted and incre- 
dulity excited by the aggregation under one roof of numerous shrines and holy 
places. Here are shown not only the sites of the crucifixion and the resurrec- 
tion, but the tombs of Adam, Melchizedec, Joseph of Arimathea, and of Nico- 
demus ; the place where our Lord was crowned with thorns, and where He 
appeared to Mary Magdalene ; the pillar to which he was bound during the 
scourging; the slab upon which His body was laid for the anointing; the spot 
where He first appeared to His mother after the resurrection ; the centre of the 




it? J 









ENTRANCE OF CHURCH OF HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



world ; the place whence the earth was taken from which Adam was made, 
with many other marvels. Even those who come, with simple faith, to " see 
the place where the Lord lay," depart indignant at the frauds and lying 
legends palmed off upon them. This feeling is increased by the tinsel and 
frippery which abound everywhere. The very Chapel of the Resurrection is 
made offensive by puerile ornamentation and tawdry finery. Yet in spite of 
all, it is strangely affecting to see the agony of earnestness, the passionate 
fervour of devotion, displayed by pilgrims, many of whom have travelled on 
foot from incredible distances to pray at the sacred shrines. 



Entrance to the Church of the 

Holy Sepulchre. 
Divan of the Turkish Guards. 
Staircase of the Latins, leading to 
Golgotha. 
. Ditto of the Greek?. 
The Place of Crucifixion. 
Greek Altar, where is found the 

Hole of the Cross. 
Cleft of the Rock. 
J.Greek Chapels. 
. Parting of Garments. 
'.Crowning of Thorns. 
Stone of Anointing. 
Position of the three Maries. 
Staircase and Armenian Chapels. 
Chapels attached to Latin Convent. 



A. Entrance Court. 
H. Chapel of Calvary. 

C. Great Cupola. 

D. Chapel of Holy Sepul- 

chre. 

E. Greek Church. 

F. Church of the Francis- 

cans. 

G. Chapel of St. Helena. 

H. Chapel of the Finding 

of the Cross. 
K. Ruined Steeple. 




m. Chapel of the Angel, 
n. Inner Chapel, 
o. The Holy Sepulchre, 
p. Coptic Chapel, 
q. Ditto of Schismatic Syrians, 
r. Tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus. 
ss. Greek, Armenian, and Coptic 

Chapels, 
t. Staircase to Latin Church, 
u. Station of Mary Magdalene, 
v. Place where Christ appeared to 

Mary Magdalene, 
x. Christ's Prison. 

y. Steps leading to Chapel of the 
Finding. 

z. Place wherethe Cross was found. 



a. Centre of the World. 
/3. Most Holy Place of the Greeks, 
y. Chapel of Longinus. 
6". Place of Abraham's Sacrifice, 
e. Place where Melchisedek blessed the Bread. 



PLAN OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



We may dismiss, without a moment's hesitation, the legends which 
cluster around the main central tradition ; but have we reasonable ground for 
believing that our Lord was crucified and buried upon this spot ? What is 
the evidence upon which the authenticity of the site rests ? 

In the reign of Constantine the city had been laid utterly waste ; its very 
name had ceased to be used, and Christians and Jews had been banished 
from it for generations. The superstitious zeal of the Empress Helena, 
prompted her to visit the sacred places, and the site of Calvary had been 
fixed by the alleged discovery of the three crosses which were found in a 
pit, and their authenticity is said to have been attested by the miracles which 



JERUSALEM. 



were worked. Constantine now resolved to recover the Sepulchre and to 
erect a church, the splendour and beauty of which should surpass all others. 
Eusebius tells us, that the pagans had piled a mound of earth over the cave, 
had paved the surface and placed upon it a temple to Venus ; the emperor 
caused these to be removed, when "as soon as the original surface of the 
ground, beneath its covering of earth appeared, immediately and contrary to 




INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 

all expectation, the venerable and hallowed monument of our Saviour's re- 
surrection was discovered." The cave was adorned with marbles, a colonnade 
was erected round it, and a basilica was built in honour of the Anastasis, or 
Resurrection. 

Two questions at once suggest themselves. Did Constantine discover 

1 02 



THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



the true site ? Does the present church stand upon the same spot with his 
basilica ? To these questions the most contradictory answers are given. By 
some it is maintained that the emperor was guided, in his search, by accurate 
information, that a continuous tradition connects his edifice with the present 
church, and that, consequently, we have the very places of the entombment 




CHAPEL OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 



and resurrection fixed beyond reasonable doubt. Others, holding that the 
true site was discovered by Constantine, yet assert that during the intervals 
in which Christians were banished from Jerusalem by Persian and Moham- 
medan conquerors, the original edifice was destroyed, the locality forgotten, 
and that a new church sprang up upon a different site, around which legends 
have clustered in the lapse of ages which have no historical basis. Others, 



JERUSALEM. 



again, assert that Constantine was the dupe either of superstition or of 
imposture, and that there was absolutely no evidence that the sepulchre was 
where he sought for it. 

Into the protracted and angry discussions which have raged upon these 
questions, I do not propose to enter here. But after a careful examination of 
the site and of the arguments urged by the various disputants, I come to the 




THE PLACE OF SCOURGING. 



conclusion that the place of the crucifixion and entombment must be sought 
elsewhere, and not on the spot which tradition points out. Though the 
indications of Scripture may be insufficient to show us where it was, they are 
yet quite adequate to tell us where it was not. 

I. It was outside the city, yet near to it (John xix. 20; Hebrews xiii. 12). 

Z04 



THE SITE OF CALVARY. 



2. It was a place where interments were permitted, and as a matter of 
fact did take place (Matt, xxvii. 59, 60 ; Mark xv. 46, 47 ; Luke xxiii. 53 ; 
John xix. 41, 42). 

3. There was a garden in "the place" (John xix. 41). 

4. It was by the side of a road leading up from the country (Matt, xxvii. 
39; Mark xv. 21, 29; Luke xxiii. 26). 

5. It was a spot capable of being seen by a considerable number of 
persons from a distance (Matt, xxvii. 55; Mark xv. 40; Luke xxiii. 49). 




CAVE UNDER THE CHURCH. 



6. It was within sight and hearing of a place whence the priests could stand 
without danger of defilement (Matt, xxvii. 41 ; Mark xv. 31 ; John xviii. 28). 

7. It was not far from the barracks of the Roman soldiers, some of 
whom ran and fetched the vinegar — the ordinary posca, or sour drink of the 
legionaries — when Jesus on the cross cried, "I thirst" (Matt, xxvii. 48; 
Mark xv. 36). 

8. The language of the evangelists seems to imply that the procession, on 
leaving the judgment hall, passed not through the city but outside it (Matt, 
xxvii. 31, 32; Mark xv. 20; Luke xxiii. 26; John xix. 17). 

105 



JERUSALEM. 



The present site fails to satisfy any one of these conditions. It is not 
only far within the walls, but apparently must have been so in the time of 
our Lord when the city was much larger and more populous than now, though 
in the time of Constantine, when the walls were demolished and the city 
desolate, it may have been outside the inhabited district. 1 Even if by any 
sudden bend, or re-entering angle the line of circumvallation left it outside, 
which, however, is very unlikely, it must still have been in the midst of 
houses, for we find that Agrippa, twelve years afterwards, constructed a 
third line of wall to enclose an extensive suburb which had sprung up on 
this side ; and we know that the ceremonial law and social usages of the 
Jews forbad the formation of graves among the abodes of the living. 

Where could the priests have stood who so feared 2 defilement, that they 
would not enter the judgment hall amongst a crowd of Roman soldiers and 

rabble ? In a place of public execu- 
tion and interment, they must have been 
defiled. 

If, as seems certain, houses were all 
round the present site, where could the 
great multitude have watched from " afar 
off?" 

The judgment hall and the barracks 
are believed to have been in the Castle 
of Antonia. In this case the Via Dolorosa 
must have led, as tradition now marks it, 
through the heart of the city, crowded at 
the time to its utmost capacity by the 
multitudes who had come up to the feast. 
The rulers feared "an uproar among the 
people," many of whom " believed on 
Him ;" hence the need for taking Him by subtlety, and for hurrying over the 
trial in an illegal and stealthy manner. Is it likely that they would run -the 
risk of a disturbance and a rescue in the crowded street ? especially with a 
guard of only four soldiers. 3 We can hardly doubt that, in accordance 
with the indications of the narrative the rulers would choose some place 
for the execution to which they could pass immediately from the pratorium 
into the open country. 

We have but to transfer the scene of the crucifixion from the northern 
to the eastern side of the city, in the valley of the Keclron, to find all the 
requirements of the narrative satisfied. It is, and always must have been, 
outside the walls. It was a recognised place of interment, the valley to this 

1 The close proximity of the Pool of Hezekiah affords a strong incidental proof that the site of the church must 
always have been inside the walls. It is most improbable that this vast cistern should have been outside for the use of 
the besiegers, or that the wall should have included the pool and excluded the church. 

2 John xviii. 28. 3 Ibid. xix. 3. 




VIA DOLOROSA. 



THE SITE OF CALVARY. 



day being full of graves, many of them very ancient and cut in the rock. 
Irrigated by the river, by wells and fountains, there were numerous gardens. 
The slope of Olivet would allow a great multitude to watch the scene afar 
off, and the priests, standing on the Temple cloisters, would be within sight 
and hail of Calvary without fear of defilement. One of the two main roads 
leading from the country into Jerusalem passed close to the spot. And the 
procession, leaving the praetorium, would emerge at once from the city into 
the open country. Assuming then that the site of Calvary is to be sought 
on the eastern side, the whole narrative becomes clear and consistent. 

If this be conceded a new and unexpected conformity between the type 
and the great Antitype is discovered. The Epistle to the Hebrews, written at 
a time when the Temple was yet standing and its sacrifices were being offered, 
says, respecting the sin-offering, " the bodies of those beasts whose blood is 
brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin, are burned without 
the camp ; wherefore Jesus, also, that He might sanctify the people with His 
own blood suffered without the gate." 1 Not merely "a gate," but 11 the gate," 
through which the bodies of the sacrifices were carried out to be burned. 
The great sin-offering for the world was thus led forth to be crucified through 
the very gate and in sight of the very spot in which the typical sacrifices 
had been burned in the valley of Hinnom. 

Again the rending of the veil at the moment of our Lord's death gains a 
new significance if this view be adopted. The Temple, as we know, opened to 
the east. It would be within sight of Calvary. How striking, how suggestive 
that the typical veil should thus be " rent in twain from the top throughout " 
just when we received "boldness to enter into the holiest by 'the blood of 
Jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil, 
that is to say, his flesh." 2 

And yet further, the fact that the place of our Lord's death, burial, and 
resurrection was in close proximity to the Temple, would give additional 
significance to the taunt of those " that passed by saying, Thou that destroyest 
the temple and buildest it in three days save thyself." 3 Here again the type 
and the antitype come into close juxtaposition. 

The site of the Temple claims our next attention. 

In any view of Jerusalem from the eastward the vast enclosure known 
as the Haram esh Sherif, or the Noble Sanctuary, arrests the eye from its 
size, its beauty, and the profound interest which attaches to it. Within its 
limits stood the Temple, and the world can hardly afford a nobler, worthier 
site for the house of the Lord. Standing on a ridge, guarded by valleys on 
every side, it formed a natural and almost impregnable fortress. Psalmists 

1 Heb. xiii. n, 12. 2 Matt xxvii. 51 ; Mark xv. 38 ; Luke xxiii. 45 ; Heb. x. 19, 20. 

Matt, xxvii. 39, 40 ; Mark xv. 29, 30. See a clear statement of the foregoing argument in a letter by Dr. 
Hutchinson in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Palestine Exploration Fund ' for July, 1873 ; and in a valuable work, ' Horeb 
and Sinai,' by the Rev. G. Sandie. 

% 107 



JERUSALEM. 



and prophets only gave expression to the feelings of the whole people when 
they celebrated, in exulting and rapturous strains, the strength, the beauty, and 
the glory of the city of God. It was a saying of the Rabbis that "the world 
is like an eye. The ocean surrounding it is the white of the eye ; the earth 
is the coloured part ; Jerusalem is the pupil ; but the sanctuary is the image 
within the pupil. There the being of God is at once mirrored and beheld." 

The walls of the Temple area enclose a rectangle of about fifteen 
hundred feet from north to south by nine hundred feet from east to west. 
Its stones are many of them of great size ; Capt. Warren measured one 
which was thirty-eight feet nine inches in length. The peculiar bevel which' 
characterises early Jewish and Phoenician work may be observed on most of 
them. Occasionally, especially in the lower courses, they appear to occupy 
their original position, though whether placed there by Solomon, Nehemiah, or 
Herod, cannot be ascertained at present ; more frequently the stones have been 
replaced by later and more modern hands than those of the original builders. 
A careful examination often shows that the original materials have been used 
over and over again in successive walls, and commonly reduced in size so as 
to be worked more easily. Columns of the finest marble, porphyry and 
serpentine built in amongst the blocks of limestone, are by no means rare. 
These are sometimes whole and erect, but more often broken across and laid 
in horizontally with the ends projecting. They evidently formed part of the 
Temple, and have been used by later builders as being ready to hand. 
Examining these massive remains of ancient power and wealth it was im- 
possible not to remember the words of the disciples, " Master, see what 
manner of stones and what buildings are here." The stability of the edifice 
seemed to be ensured not only by the size of the blocks but by the excellence 
of the Jewish masonry, which was so perfect that it is often impossible to 
insert the point of a knife between the joints. Yet the dilapidated condition 
of the walls shows how wonderfully our Lord's words have been verified, 
" Seest thou these great buildings ? there shall not be left one stone upon 
another that shall not be thrown down." 1 

Starting at the north-east angle, and going eastward, with the valley of 
the Kedron and the Mount of Olives on our left hand, the Temple area on 
our right, we come to the Golden Gate, a remarkable double gateway the date 
and purpose of which are unknown. Some have supposed it to be the 
Beautiful Gate at which the lame man sat begging, 2 but from the style of 
architecture it can hardly be older than the age of Constantine. It is now 
walled up, in consequence of a Mohammedan tradition that the Christians 
will again take possession of Jerusalem, and that their King will enter 
victoriously through this gate. Another tradition is that the last judgment 
will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat or of Kedron, just below us, 
and that Mohammed will stand upon one of the projecting pillars over the 

1 Mark xiii. I, 2. 2 Acts iii. I— 1 1. 

108 



THE WALLS OF THE TEMPLE AREA. 



entrance, and Issa — their name for Jesus — on the Mount of Olives opposite, 
and together judge the world. 

Alono- the southern side there is little to detain us. We have on our 
right the wall surmounted by the roof of the mosque of El Aksa and on our 
left the slope of Ophel running down to the point at which the Valleys of 




THE GOLDEN GATE. 



Hinnom and Kedron meet. But immediately after turning the south-west 
corner we come upon an object of profound interest. The Temple was on 
this side divided from the city by a valley, now nearly filled up. From the 
wall which here bears traces of extreme antiquity and appears to be a part 
of the original structure, some huge blocks of stones are seen to project. 
These were found by Robinson to form the first courses of an arch. Captain 



JERUSALEM. 



Wilson, acting on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, caused a line 
of shafts to be sunk due westward from this point, and discovered a series of 
piers upon which other arches had rested, so that we have here the remains 
of a bridge which ran across the valley connecting the Temple with the city. 
We learn from Josephus that the valley was spanned by a bridge leading 
from the Temple to the palace. All subsequent researches have tended to 
establish the conclusion at which Robinson arrived that, "This arch could 
only belong to the bridge, and it proves incontestably the antiquity of that 

portion of the wall from which 
it springs." The only difficulty 
in the way of ascribing this great 
work to Solomon or his succes- 
sors is that the principle of the 
arch was not then known. A 
more thorough acquaintance with 
Egyptian architecture, however, 
proves that this statement is not 
strictly true. Examples of the 
arch, though rare, may yet be 
found in buildings of undoubted 
antiquity. In the narrative of 
the visit of the Queen of Sheba 
to Solomon we read that, " When 
she had seen . . . his ascent by 
which he went up unto the house 
of the Lord, there was no more 
spirit in her." 1 This seems to be 
spoken of' as the climax of all 
the wonders which were shown 
her. If we may venture to iden- 
tify the arched bridge across the 
valley with " the ascent " thus 
spoken of it will adequately 
explain the astonishment with which it was regarded. 

A little farther along the western wall we come to the Wailing Place of 
the Jews. It is close to the Jewish quarter — the foulest, most squalid and 
wretched part of the city. The masonry here is the finest, and in the best 
preservation, of any part of the enclosure. Many of the stones are twenty- 
five feet in length and apparently have remained undisturbed since the time 
of the first builder. 2 Here the Jews assemble every Friday to mourn over 

1 i Kings x. 4, 5. 

2 If we adopt. Mr. Fergusson's theory as to the site of the Temple, a line running through the Altar and the Holy 
of Hclies would cut the middle of the Wailing Place. 




PROJECTING STONES OF ROBINSON'S ARCH. 



THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM. 



their fallen state, especially their exclusion from " the holy and beautiful 
house," where their fathers worshipped God. Some press their lips against 
crevices in the masonry as though imploring an answer from some unseen 
presence within, others utter loud cries of anguish. Here is one group joining 
in the prayers of an aged rabbi ; yonder another sitting in silent anguish, 
their cheeks bathed in tears. The stones are in many places worn smooth 
with their passionate kisses. The grief of the new-comers is evidently deep 
and genuine. But with the older residents it has subsided into little more than 
a mere ceremonial observance and an empty form. But in either case the 
scene is strangely affecting, leading back our thoughts to the self-invoked curse 
of eighteen hundred years ago — " His blood be on us, and on our children." 1 




JEWISH ALMSHOUSES, ERECTED BY SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE, NEAR THE JAFFA GATE. 

The northern wall has nothing to detain us, except the pool of Bethesda, 
so called, but of which the identification is doubtful. 2 There are still traces of 
what may have been " the five porches," but the pool is now little more than 
a pit or ditch choked with filth and ordure, and, only after heavy rains, 
containing a little stagnant, fetid water. 

We now enter the Temple area and find ourselves in an enclosure of 
extraordinary beauty. In spring and early summer the turf is of a brilliant 
green, enamelled with a profusion of wild flowers, and dotted over with 
trees, most of them cypresses, many of which are of great size. The 
birds, free from molestation, are exceedingly tame. Doves and sparrows are 



Matt, xxvii. 25. 



2 John v. 1-9. 



"5 



JERUSALEM. 



especially numerous, reminding us of the words of the psalmist, when, 
"longing, yea, even fainting for the courts of the Lord," "the sparrow hath 
found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young ; 
even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God." 1 Cloisters, 
colonnades, fountains, cupolas and shrines, are seen here and there within the 
spacious area. But the eye is arrested and detained by a marble platform 
from the centre of which rises one of the most exquisite domes in the world. 
This is the Kubbet es Sakhrah, " the Dome of the Rock," better known to 
Europeans as "the Mosque of Omar," next after Mecca the most sacred, 




THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 



next after Cordova the most beautiful of all moslem shrines. 2 There are 
several other mosques within the Temple area, but none that claim special 
notice except the one at the south end— that of El Aksa. This is a large 
building, the date and original purpose of which, however, is involved in 
much obscurity. 

The rock itself is honey-combed with excavations, most of them cisterns 
or conduits. Some of these are supplied with water from Solomon's Pools 
beyond Bethlehem. The aqueduct may yet be traced along the edge of the 

1 Psa. lxxxiv. 2, 3. 

2 So Dean Stanley. It is difficult to compare objects so entirely dissimilar. For my own part I should be disposed 
to give the preference to the Mosque of Omar. 

116 



RESERVOIRS AND SUBSTRUCTIONS BENEATH THE TEMPLE. 



Wady Urtas. It is said that, in addition to the water brought from a 
distance, there are natural springs within the rock itself ; this, however, is 
doubted. From whatever source the supply was derived it was so abundant 
that it was never known to be exhausted. In some of these vast under- 
ground reservoirs which I visited, I found the water to be deliciously cold, 
sweet and clear. It was in reference to these inexhaustible stores from 
which the priests drew so plentifully, that our Lord, " in that great day of 
the feast . . . stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and 
drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly 
shall flow rivers of living water. This spake He of the Spirit, which they 
that believe on Him should receive. 1 

Among the subterranean chambers is one dedicated to the Lord Issa, 
or Jesus. Here according to Mo- 
hammedan tradition he was born ; 
his cradle is shown, and the chapel, 
for such it is, is regarded as one of 
peculiar sanctity. 

Beneath the southern end of the 
area is an extraordinary series of 
substructions which used to be called 
Solomon's stables, and were believed 
to have been erected for that pur- 
pose by the magnificent king. Their 
real design is obvious, though when 
and by whom they were built can- 
not be determined. The Temple 
area is constructed on the summit 
of Mount Moriah. As the hill sloped 
downward on the east, west, and 
south it was necessary to level the 
top to secure a plane surface. But on the southern side or Ophel, the descent 
was rapid. To have secured a level platform here, it would have been neces- 
sary to cut away so much from the summit as seriously to have reduced its 
height. These arches were, therefore, built up from beneath. The same 
method was adopted at Rome to enlarge the level area of the Palatine. 

In what part of the extensive area thus formed did the Temple stand ? 
It has been commonly assumed that the marble platform in the centre marks 
the site, and that the Mosque of Omar stands over the spot occupied by the 
altar or the Holy Place. This view, however, is beset with doubts. The 
mosque encloses a mass of rock sixty-feet in length, fifty-five in breadth, and 
standing up about fifteen feet above the earth around it. Now we know 

1 John vii. 37, 38. It has been often said that the main reservoir was immediately beneath the Altar of Burnt Offer- 
ing. This, though probable, cannot be affirmed absolutely in our present uncertainty as to where the altar really stood. 

117 




SUBSTRUCTIONS UNDER THE SOUTHERN END 
OF THE TEMPLE AREA. 



JERUSALEM. 



that the Temple was built upon the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 1 
This mass of rock, however, with its inequalities of surface could never have 
been a threshing-floor. It has been said that probably the rock was cut 
away around it, leaving this portion untouched. But this explanation is 
equally inconsistent with the facts of the case. For the rock is unhewn, and 
only in one or two places bears marks of the chisel. Besides which, if it 
had stood within the precincts of the Temple it could hardly have escaped 
mention, yet neither the Scriptures, the writings of Josephus, nor those of the 
Talmudists allude to it. 2 Where could it have stood ? What purpose could 
it have served ? Its size is fatal to the theory that it was in the most 
Holy Place, which was a small chamber. It is possible, though not very 
probable, that being covered with plates of brass it formed the core of the 




THE TEMPLE AREA AND MOUNT OF OLIVES, FROM THE CITY WALL. 



altar of burnt-offerings. Standing on the summit and in the centre of the 
ridge of Moriah, it is the likeliest place for the site of the Temple, yet the 
difficulties, in the way of placing the Temple over it, are very great. 

Another theory propounded by Mr. Fergusson, and ably supported by 
Messrs. Lewin and Sandie, finds the Temple site on the south or south-west 
of the Haram area. But this theory is likewise beset with great difficulties. 
For the threshing-floor must then have been in a deep hollow, contrary to 
the invariable practice of the Easterns, who constructed them on the tops of 
hills where the wind might winnow the grain as it fell from the ears. 
Besides which, the language of the psalmist and prophets implies that the 

1 2 Sam. xxiv. 18-25. 2 Chron. iii. 1. 

" The late Emmanuel Deutsch told me that he had found one reference to it in the Talmud ; hut his lamented death 
prevented his giving me further information on the subject. 
xx8 



SITE OF THE TEMPLE. 



Temple stood on an elevated site ; they speak invariably of going up to the 
house of the Lord. It is true that the southern end of the Temple area is 
now on the same level with the rest, but this is secured by the vast 
substfuctions which have been built up from the valley below ; and it can 
hardly be pretended that the threshing-floor of Araunah occupied this artificial 
elevation ; nor has any reason been suggested why, with the whole ridge of 
Moriah to choose from, a site should have been selected which either buried 
the Temple in a hollow, or required an amount of work below the surface 
greater than that above it to bring up the platform to the necessary level. 

The startling theory of Mr. Fergusson as to the site of the Holy 
Sepulchre demands brief notice here. He maintains that the Mosque of Omar 
is the basilica of Constantine, that the mysterious rock which it encloses is 
that of which the evangelist speaks, and that a cave about fifteen feet square in 
the side of the rock is the very cave in which our Lord was entombed. 
His argument, to which full justice cannot be done in a brief summary, may 
be thus stated. He pledges his professional reputation that the Kubbet es 
Sakhrah is a building of the date of Constantine, that it is not and never 
could have been intended for a mosque, that it does not possess a single 
characteristic of Saracenic architecture, but that in its main features it is 
identical with the sepulchral basilica of Diocletian, at Spalatro, a type which 
Constantine is likely to have followed. The Golden Gate he regards as the 
grand entrance from the eastern side to the area of the basilica, and maintains 
that it is of the same style and date with the Dome of the Rock. Assuming 
the accuracy of his theory that the Temple occupied the south-western angle of 
the present area, he shows that there was ample space for places of the crucifixion 
and entombment to have been here without entrenching upon the Temple 
precincts from which it was then separated by a deep fosse or valley, now 
filled up. He then seeks to show that the indications of the Gospel narrative, 
the statements of Eusebius, and the language of early pilgrims agree in fixing 
upon this as the true site of the burial and resurrection of our Lord. The 
absence of any tradition pointing to this spot and the fact that for nearly a 
thousand years the site of the sepulchre has been supposed to be where the 
church now stands, he explains by the statement that after the rock with its 
dome, had been appropriated by the Mohammedans, the Christians were 
banished for a long period from the city ; even on their return they were not 
allowed to approach the Holy Place ; a new church in another site was 
therefore built for the use of the pilgrims around which the legends sprang 
up in mediaeval fashion, so that what was at first a mere myth or pious fraud, 
came at last to be accepted as an historical fact. 

There is much that is attractive in this theory, and it is supported by a 
great weight of argument and learning. But it will hardly bear the test of 
examination. The basilica of Constantine was not built over the sepulchre but 

near it ; the Kubbet es Sakhrah encloses and covers the rock. Constantine's 

119 



JERUSALEM. 




building was destroyed by Chosroes II., and the church that rose upon its 

site suffered the 

mmmumamt^^^ same fate under 

El-Hakem. This, 
therefore, cannot 
be it. Constantine 
constructed a co- 
lonnade eastward 
from the church 
at the end of which 
was an agora, or 
market-place. The 

Kubbet es Sakhrah is so near the eastern wall over the valley of 
the Kedron that space cannot be found for this arrangement. 

Whilst, therefore, the site of the sepulchre must, in my 
judgment, be sought somewhere on this side of the city, I cannot 
accept Mr. Fergusson's identification as accurate or sustained by 
facts. It is with reluctance that we yield ourselves to the con- 
clusion that accurate knowledge is, at least, for the present beyond 
our. reach. Most eagerly and gratefully should we welcome any 
means of determining the spot so endeared by hallowed memories 
and associations. But our very ignorance may have been designed 
or permitted for wise purposes. A superstitious, an almost 
idolatrous, worship has been fostered by pilgrimages to the holy 
places. We shall do well to remember the conversation by 
Jacob's well : " The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou 
art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and ye 
say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when 
ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the 
Father. . . the hour cometh and now is, when the true worship- 
pers shall worship 



' 1 
11 1 

i i 



§^ 
i 

1 

•il 
I 1 

jl . 
•v. 

i 

if 

i 
i 



the Father in 
spirit and in truth: 
for the Father 
seeketh such to 
worship Him." 1 

Light may ul- 
timately be thrown 
upon these difficult 
and perplexed ques- 
tions by the labours of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Hitherto, how- 

1 John iv. 9-23. 




TUNNEL AND SHAFT OF THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND OUTSIDE 
THE WALL OF THE TEMPLE. 



THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 



ever, the obstacles thrown in their way by the Turkish government, 
have been almost insuperable. It is only by extraordinary energy and 
ingenuity that they have been able to accomplish anything in Jerusalem. 
The sketch on the preceding page will illustrate this. Not being allowed to 
excavate within a certain distance of the Temple area, a shaft was sunk 
through the mass of debris, to the depth of eighty feet, just outside the 
proscribed limit. A tunnel was then run from the bottom of the shaft to the 
wall of the Temple. The result was the discovery of courses of masonry of 
the original edifice, and upon some of the blocks of stone, mason's marks in 
ancient Phoenician characters were found. 

It now only remains for us to notice briefly some of the memorable 
spots in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem. These, for the most 
part, lie along the valley of the Kedron. 

First in interest is the Garden of Gethsemane. Leaving the city by 
St. Stephen's Gate, a steep path leads us down into the valley and across the 
bed of the Kedron. Soon after beginning the ascent of Olivet, we come to 
an enclosure about eighty yards square. Knocking at a low door, we are 
admitted by an aged monk, the guardian of the place, and find ourselves in 
a trim garden. The flower-beds are neatly kept and fenced with sticks. A 
number of olive-trees stand among them, hollow, gnarled, and, apparently, 
extremely old. They yet bear a few berries, which are carefully gathered 
and given to pilgrims, for which, of course, backshish is expected in return. 
Old as the trees are it cannot be supposed that they have stood here for 
eighteen centuries, though it is quite credible that they may have sprung as 
suckers from the roots of yet older trees. The passion for localising all the 
incidents of the narrative is not absent here. We are shown the bank 
upon which the disciples slept, the grotto — all mediaeval legends select a grotto 
— where, as a Latin inscription informs us, " the sweat like blood ran down upon 
the ground," and the place where Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. 
The Czisfode however, with a courtesy and consideration very rare in his 
class, does not pester us with talk, but, retiring to a distance, leaves us 
to our meditation. 1 On this spot then, or near it, happened the most solemn 
and pathetic event in the life, even of " the man of sorrows." Under the 
shade of these grey olives, he endured his bitter and heart-breaking agony ; along 
yonder path, lighted by the full passover moon, " with lanterns, and torches, 
and weapons," came the betrayer, leading "a band of men and officers;" 2 
here, deserted and forsaken by all, He meekly surrendered Himself to his 
murderers, and was led away to be condemmed and crucified. Callous must 
that heart be which, on such a spot as this, does not breathe the prayer : 
" By Thine agony and bloody sweat ; by Thy cross and passion ; by Thy 
precious death and burial : Good Lord deliver us !" 

1 The way in which ecclesiastical legends are invented is curiously illustrated by the fact that the Greeks and 
Armenians have recently constructed rival Gethsemanes of their own, this one being in possession of the Latins. 

2 John xviii. 3. 



JERUSALEM. 



Leaving the scene of our Lord's bitter agony, we pass along the Valley of 
the Kedron, sometimes called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Jews and Moham- 
medans, alike, believe that this will be the scene of the final judgment. 
Hence has arisen an eager desire to be buried here, and the soil is, in many 
places, literally paved with tombstones, and the whole valley is one vast 
cemetery. Shortly before reaching the point of junction of the valleys of 
Hinnom and Kedron, we reach a cluster of remarkable tombs, called by the 
names of Zacharias, Absalom, and St. James. The tradition respecting them 
is quite modern, and has no historical basis. Those of Zacharias and 




MOUNT OK CORRUPTION IN THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT, WITH THE TOMBS OF ABSALOM, 

ST. JAMES, AND ZACHARIAS. 



Absalom are similar in design, being cut out of the solid rock. The 
former is said to be the burial-place of the Zacharias who was " slain 
between the temple and the altar." 1 The latter, tradition asserts to be the 
pillar which the rebellious son " reared up for himself during his lifetime in 
the king's dale, for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remera- 
berance." 2 Its base is now buried beneath a heap of stones, upon which 
each Jew, as he passes, throws one in detestation of his memory. 

The tomb of St. James is a remarkable chamber, cut out of the side of 
the hill, with rock-hewn Doric columns in front. A modern tradition declares 

1 Matt, xxiii. 35. 2 2 Sam. xviii. 18. 

124 



TOMBS IN THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 



that here St. James retired after our Lord's crucifixion, and vowed neither to 
eat nor drink till He had risen again. On the third day the risen Saviour 
appeared to him, saying, " Arise and eat, for I have now risen from the 
dead." The marked resemblance between this sepulchre and the temple-tombs 
at Beni-hassan, in Egypt, has given rise to the suggestion that here we have 
the idol temple constructed by Solomon for his queen, the daughter of 
Pharaoh, in "the hill that is before Jerusalem." 1 The site and the style of 
architecture afford a certain measure of probability to the conjecture. 




THE TOMB OF ZACHARIAS. 



Just above us on the left is Silwan, the ancient Siloam — a collection of 
wretched hovels, inhabited by peasantry, who have the reputation of being 
the most dangerous, turbulent, and thievish in the district. Though I have 
often passed through the village alone, or with only a single companion, I 
have never had anything to complain of, beyond a demand for backshish, 
more than usually clamorous. In this village, and in odier places round 

1 I Kings xi. 4-8. 

"5 



JERUSALEM. 



Jerusalem, I found many of the peasantry occupying old tombs which formed 
abodes at least as commodious as the huts in which their neighbours lived. 
The pool of Siloam is at the foot of the hill on our right. It and the 
neighbouring well of En Rogel are still much used, not only by the villagers, 
but by the water sellers of Jerusalem. 

Turning to the right up the Valley of Hinnom, we see, on the dark and 
gloomy Hill of Evil Counsel, Aceldama. Down to a very late period, it 
continued to be used as "a field to bury strangers in." 1 Skulls brought 




ACELDAMA. 



away from this spot and submitted to the examination of competent ethno- 
logists, have been pronounced to be those of negroes and other non-semitic 
races. 

Another tomb, on the north side of the city, demands brief mention here. 
It used to be called the tomb of the kings, but it has now been identified as 
that of Queen Helena, a Jewish Proselyte, who in the first century of our era 
died, and was buried at Jerusalem. It is remarkable not only for the extent 
and perfect preservation of the sepulchral chambers, but for the ingenious 

1 Matt, xxvii. 7. 



THE TOMB OF HELENA. 



mechanism by which the entrance was closed or opened — a huge stone being 
rolled to or from the mouth of the entrance. It thus affords an interesting- 
contemporary illustration of the words of the evangelists, " Who shall roll 
away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? And when they looked 
they saw the stone rolled away, for it was very great." 1 

But it would be impossible, with the space at our disposal, to describe, 
however briefly, all the objects of interest in and around Jerusalem. Whole 




THE TOMB OF HELENA. 



volumes have been devoted to the subject without exhausting it. This brief 
and inadequate sketch may be brought to a close by recalling to memory a 
Sabbath morning service in Christ Church on Mount Zion, as the Protestant 
church, recently erected there, is called. The liturgy had gained a deeper 
significance and impressiveness from the associations of the place. The 
sermon had set forth Christ crucified as the hope alike of Jew and Gentile. 

1 Mark xvi. 3, 4. Luke xxiv. 2. 

127 



JERUSALEM. 



And the concluding hymn brought tears to many eyes ; solemn penitential 
thoughts to many hearts. Not a few of the congregation, overcome by 
emotion, were unable to join audibly as we sang : — 



Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 

Enthroned once on high, 
Thou favoured home of God on earth, 

Thou heaven below the sky ; 
Now brought to bondage with thy sons, 

A curse and grief to see, 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! 

Our tears shall flow for thee. 

O hadst thou known the day of grace, 

And flocked beneath the, wing 
Of Him who called thee lovingly, 

Thine own anointed King : 
Then had the tribes of all the world 

Gone up thy pomp to see, 
And glory dwelt within thy gates, 

And all thy sons been free. 



"And who art thou that mournest me?" 

Jerusalem may say, 
" And fear'st not rather that thyself 

May prove a castaway ! 
I am a dried and abject branch, 

My place is given to thee ; 
But, woe to every barren graft 

Of thy wild olive-tree ! 

" Our day of grace is sunk in night, 

Our time of mercy spent, 
For heavy was my children's crime, 

And strange their punishment : 
Yet gaze not idly on our fall, 

But, sinner, warned be ; 
AVho spared not His chosen seed, 

May send His wrath on thee ! 



" Our day of grace is sunk in night, 

Thy noon is in its prime ; 
O turn, and seek thy Saviour's face, 

In this accepted time ! 
So Gentile, may Jerusalem 

A lesson prove to thee, 
And in the new Jerusalem 

Thy home for ever be." 



CENTRAL PALESTINE, 
OR SAMARIA. 



K "9 




JERUSALEM TO gHIEOH. 



T^ROM Jerusalem northward as far as Bethel, 
a distance of ten or twelve miles, we pass 
through the territory of Benjamin. The 
topography of the district illustrates the 
prophecies of Jacob and Moses as to the 
destinies of this small but warlike tribe, 
and explains the peculiar position which 
it held in the Jewish commonwealth. 
From the central plateau, which runs 
north and south, a succession of rugged 
and difficult passes lead east and west, de- 
bouching on the fertile Philistine plain on 
the one side, and on the yet more fertile 
valley of Jericho on the other. Its 
barren rocky soil, ill-adapted for agricul- 
ture, gave birth to a race of hardy warriors, whose military prowess was often 
called into exercise in protecting Jerusalem against invaders from the north, in 
guarding their own mountain fastnesses, or in making forays upon the terri- 
tories of their eastern or western neighbours. Almost every hill-side has been 
the scene of a battle ; almost every mound of ruins marks the site of some 
ancient village memorable for the heroic deeds there enacted. " Benjamin 
shall ravin like a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night 
he shall divide the spoil." 1 "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the 
Lord (Jerusalem) shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him 
all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders :" 2 a prophecy 
fulfilled when centuries afterwards the Lord took up His earthly abode among 




MOSQUE OF DAVID. 



1 Gen. xlix. 27. 



2 Deut. xxxiii. 12. 



'V 



JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



the mountains of Benjamin. With its barren soil and numerical inferiority it 
yet won for itself the proud title of "little Benjamin their ruler;" 1 it gave the 
first king to Israel, and the great Apostle of the Gentiles boasted, with a law- 
ful pride, that he was "of the tribe of Benjamin." 2 

For some miles along the road, or from the eminences which skirt it, 




JERUSALEM AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES FROM SCOPUS. 



Jerusalem is visible. Age after age, invading armies, or bands of pilgrims, 
approaching from the north, as they have turned the crest of Scopus, have 
gained their first view of the city — a view in some respects even finer than 
that from Olivet. Here the first crusaders halted at break of day, and as 
Jerusalem burst upon their view, they knelt, and with tears of gladness, 

1 Ps. lxviii. 27. 2 Phil. iii. 5. 

132 



VILLAGES NORTH OF JERUSALEM. 



kissed the sacred soil. Richard Cceur de Lion, leaving his camp at Ajalon, 
pressed forward alone, and as he ascended one of these hills, buried his face 
in his mailed hands, and exclaimed, " Oh ! Lord God, I pray Thee that I may 
never look upon Thy holy city, if so be that I rescue it not from Thine enemies." 

A complete itinerary of the villages along this route is given us by the 
prophet Isaiah, describing the march of the Assyrian army. Beginning at Ai, 
near Bethel, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, "he is passed to Migron, 
at Michmash he hath laid up his baggage ; they are gone over the passage ; 
they have taken up their lodging (i.e. halted for the night), at Geba ; Ramah 




RAMAH. 



is afraid ; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim : 
cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. Madmenah is removed ; 
the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. As yet shall he remain at 
Nob that day." Having thus seized all the villages on his line of march, he 
has reached the immediate precincts of the city, where the camp of the 
Assyrians is yet pointed out. Confident of victory, " he shall shake his hand 
against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem;" but "the 
Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror, and the high ones 
of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled." 1 

Nearly all the villages here enumerated can be indentified, and not a 

1 Isa. x. 28-34. 

133 



JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



few of them still bear their ancient names. A Concordance or a reference- 
Bible will show what an affluence of historical associations lie all around us 
— Ai, the scene of Joshua's first great battle — Migron, where the army of 
Saul encamped in his campaign against the Philistines — Michmash, the scene 
of Jonathan's heroic exploit — Ramah, the home of Samuel — Gibeah, the 
birth-place of Saul — Gallim and Laish the abode of Phalti the husband of 
Michal, when torn away from David — Anathoth, the residence of Jeremiah, 
and Nob where in the house of Ahimelech the priest, the sword of Goliath 
was laid up, and the shew-bread was placed before the Lord, of which David 
" did eat when he was a hungred, and they that were with him." 




ANATHOTH. 



Apart from its historical associations, there is little to interest in the 
district through which we pass. A bleak, wind-swept, rock-strewn moor or 
a series of rounded hills where the grey limestone comes up to the surface, 
with only a few patches of meagre vegetation on the shallow soil, make up 
the scene. There is, however, one steep conical hill rising above the others, 
which arrests attention. Like the Jebel Fureidis near Bethlehem, it is 
conspicuous from every direction. Its modern name Neby Samwil — The 
Tomb of Samuel — embalms the memory of the prophet, who here judged 

Israel. With very strong probability it is identified with Mizpeh, i.e. the 

134 



BEE ROTH AND BETHEL. 



Watch-tower, a name exactly appropriate to this lofty eminence, from which 
a view is gained over the whole of Southern Palestine. Here the prophet 
summoned Israel to war against their oppressors, or convened them for 
judgment ; here " he took a stone and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, 
and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto, hath the Lord helped 
us ;" and here was heard, for the first time, the cry of devout loyalty, so 
often repeated since, " God save the king." 1 

About two hours after leaving Jerusalem, we reach a small town, Bireh, 
the Beeroth of the Gibeonites, 2 but which has a deeper interest from its 
connection with the life of our Lord. It was the first stage for the pilgrims 
returning northward from Jerusalem, where they halted for the night. The 
stragglers who had lingered in the city here rejoined their companions and 
resumed their journey to Galilee on the following morning. The Child 
Jesus having tarried behind in Jerusalem, "Joseph and His mother knew not 
of it ; but they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day's 
journey ; and they sought Him amongst their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And 
when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking Him." 3 

A little to the north-west of Beeroth, we approach an Arab village, 
standing on the ridge of a hill with a valley on either side. To the eastward 
the ridge rises considerably, giving an extensive view over the Jordan valley. 
A desolate moorland, strewn with ruins, stretches away to the north. As we 
enter the village, the first of the wretched and squalid houses which comprise 
it, makes some pretension to architectural decorations in a form not uncommon 
through central Palestine — over the doorway a couple of willow-pattern plates 
are let into the wall. The modern name, Beitin, is but a reminiscence of its 
ancient and venerable one Bethel. But except the name there is little to 
remind us that we are on a spot so memorable in Jewish history. A large 
reservoir, similar to those at Solomon's Pools and Hebron, — three hundred and 
fourteen feet long by two hundred and seventeen wide, constructed of massive 
Jewish masonry, may not improbably go back to a very early period. It is 
now empty except after heavy rains ; but it was formerly filled by the 
springs at which Abram doubtless watered his flocks and herds when, 
entering the land of Canaan, " he pitched his tent, having Bethel on the 
west, and Hai on the east, and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and 
called upon the name of the Lord." 4 

The patriarch after his journey into Egypt, returned " unto the place 
where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai unto the 
place of the altar which he had made there at the first, and there Abram 
called upon the name of the Lord," for wherever he pitched his tent there 
he built an altar — an example to all future ages of household piety and 
domestic worship. It was here and now that the strife occurred between 

1 I Sam. vii. 5-16 ; x. 17-24. 2 Joshua ix. 17. 

3 Luke ii. 42-50. 4 Gen. xii. 8. 

'35 



JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



his herdsmen and those of his nephew Lot. Standing on the high ground 
already spoken of, the younger man " lifted up his eyes and beheld all the 
plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere . . . even as the 
garden of the Lord . . . then Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan, 
and Lot journeyed east ; and they separated themselves the one from the 
other." As one contrasts the barren rocky hills around us with the rich and 
fertile plain of Sodom, the self-denial of " the Father of the faithful," becomes 
very striking and instructive. A new meaning is thus given to the promise 
which followed upon the choice of Abram : " And the Lord said unto him, 
after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up thine eyes, and look from 
the place where thou now art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and 
westward ; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy 
seed for ever . . . Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and 
in the breadth of it ; for I will give it unto thee." 1 The blessing which thus 
came upon " faithful Abraham," will surely be inherited by all who, like him, 
are content to forego present advantages in the service and at the call of God. 

Of the city which once stood upon this site scarcely any trace remains. 
A careful examination of the ruins of a Christian church, probably of the date 
of the Crusades, shows that it has been built out of an older edifice. The 
size of many of the stones and the peculiar bevel on the edge shows that 
the original edifice was Jewish. 

The foundations of other ancient structures may be traced on the hill-side, 
and near its summit are the remains of a tower which still rises to a con- 
siderable height. Nothing has yet been discovered to fix the site of the 
temple which Jeroboam built here to rival that at Jerusalem, or of the altar 
where, as he stood to offer incense, he was rebuked by the fearless prophet, 
followed by the withering of the monarch's arm, and the miraculous overthrow 
of the altar. 2 A Jewish tradition tells us that the temple was so built that the 
idol-priests could look down upon that of Solomon on Mount Moriah. From 
the top of the tower this cannot now be done, but the Mount of Olives is 
distinctly visible almost to its base. Jerusalem is hidden by an intervening hill. 
I was told by my dragoman that a few years ago, before the upper courses of 
masonry had been removed, the temple platform could be seen, and it was 
evident that a very small addition to the height at which I stood would 
render this quite practicable. 

It was somewhere in the rock-strewn moorland, which stretches around 
the city, that Jacob, travelling northward, a fugitive from his father's house 
at Beersheba, received the mysterious vision, which formed the turning point 
in his career. Standing amongst these heaps of stones and sheets of smooth, 
bare rock, it is easy to realize the scene as "he tarried there all night 
because the sun was set, and he took of the stones of the place and put them 
for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 3 

1 Gen. xiii. 2 i Kings xii. 26-33 > xul - I_ S- 3 Gen. xxviii. 10-19. 

136 



I 



JACOB AT BETHEL. 



The historian goes on to tell us that " the name of that city was called 
Luz at the first," implying an earlier Canaanitish settlement. A curious and 
interesting trace of this fact is found in the stone-circles, resembling those in 
our own country, which still exist on the east of the city. There are 
numerous instances in Palestine of the occurrence of dolmens and rude stone 




STONE CIRCLE NEAR BETHEL. 



circles. We must doubtless refer them to the early settlers, antecedent to the 
Hebrew conquest. 

We now leave the sterile rocky heights of Benjamin and Judah, and 
shall soon enter upon the fertile plains and valleys of Samaria. The soil is 
richer and better cultivated. The hills are terraced up to their summits, 
and are covered with corn-fields and orchards. In the days of prosperity and 

'39 



JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



plenty, when "every man sat under his own vine and fig-tree," even the 
barren slopes of Southern Palestine were brought under cultivation. They 
drew " honey from the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock." Even yet we 
can trace the lines of these ancient terraces showing what the land once was, 
and what it may yet become again when "the time to favour Zion, yea, the 
set time, is come." But now these long lines or scattered heaps of stones 
only add to the general sense of desolation. In the country north of Bethel, 
however, we come to many districts in which something of the former fertility 
and prosperity may yet be found. From our camp in Ain Haramiyeh, or 
Robbers' Fountain, a few miles north of Bethel, we could see the hills clothed 
to their very summits with fig-gardens, now in their bright spring greenery. 
A Syrian gentleman, who was my frequent companion through this part of 
Palestine, plucked the young figs as he passed without stint or scruple. His 
reply to my question as to his right to do so was instructive as throwing light 
upon an incident in the life of our Lord as to which some difficulty has been 
felt. In the early spring, when the first leaves appear, an immense number of 
small figs are produced, which do not ripen but fall from the branches, crude 
and immature, to the ground. To these we find a reference in the Apocalypse 
" as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs." 1 The true crop is not produced till 
later in the year. This first crude "untimely" growth, though of no commercial 
value, is yet plucked and eaten by the peasantry, sometimes with a pinch of salt, 
sometimes with bread. Like the wild fruit of our hedgerows it is free to all 
passers-by. It was just at this early season, before the feast of the passover, 
that our Lord and His disciples, having walked from Bethany, " hungered." 
Seeing a fig-tree " afar off having leaves," they sought fruit and "found nothing 
thereon but leaves only, for the time of figs was not yet." 2 That is to say, see- 
ing leaves they had a right to expect fruit. Finding fruit they would have had 
a right to pluck it, " for the time of figs was not yet," the true and valuable 
crop was not yet produced." This incident He turned into a solemn lesson of 
warning to the Jews. It was at the close of His public ministry. " Behold, 
these three years I come seeking fruit and finding none," 3 — nothing but the 
leaves of mere profession and outward privilege. The time of forbearance and 
patient pitying delay had passed — that of rejection and destruction had come ; 
"and He said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. 
And presently the fig-tree withered away." 

" On the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth 
up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah," 4 stood Shiloh, 
exactly on the spot thus precisely indicated is the village of Seilun, the Arabic 
form of its ancient name. It stands on a slight eminence, rising from an 
extensive plain. An ancient well probably marks the spot where "the 
daughters of Shiloh came out to dance in dances " at their annual festival, 



140 



1 Rev. vi. 13. 
3 Luke xiii. 6-9. 



2 Matt. xxi. 18, 19. Mark xi. 12-14. 
4 Judges xxi. 19. 



SHILOH. 



and were carried away as brides by the Benjamites who had crossed the 
frontier. 1 Of the tabernacle in which the ark rested, from the time of Joshua 
to that of Samuel, no trace, of course, remains. But on the summit of a little 
knoll we find the remains of what was once a Jewish synagogue, afterwards 
used as a church, and subsequently as a mosque. On the lintel over the 
doorway, between two wreaths of flowers, is carved a vessel shaped like a 
Roman amphora; it so closely resembles the conventional type of the "pot 
of manna " as found on coins and in the ruins of the synagogue at Caper- 




RUINS OF A SYNAGOGUE AT SHILOH. 



naum, that it doubtless formed part of the original building. It is a not impro- 
bable conjecture that the synagogue may have been erected on the sacred 
spot which for so many generations formed the centre of Jewish worship. 
And in the rock sepulchres with which the neighbouring hill-sides are honey- 
combed, the remains of Eli, and of the high-priests who had ministered 
before him at the altar were doubtless laid to rest. 

There are few spots in Palestine of which the identification is more certain, 
or the associations more interesting than Shiloh. Here the childless wife 

2 Judges xxi. verses 15-23. 

141 



JERUSALEM TO SHILOH. 



prayed ; and when her prayer had been heard she brought the infant Samuel 
(Asked of the Lord), and said to the aged priest, " Oh my lord, as thy soul 
liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the 
Lord. For this child I prayed ; and the Lord hath given me my petition 
which I asked of Him : therefore also I have lent him to the Lord : as long 
as he liveth shall he be lent to the Lord." The incidents which followed — 
the annual visit of the happy mother, the little coat, made with such loving 
care, for the absent boy, the child Samuel "growing in stature and in favour 
both with the Lord and also with men," the aged, sorrowful priest, the 
mysterious voice in the silence of the night, the mournful tragedy of Eli's 
death, and the universal recognition of " all Israel, from Dan even to Beer- 
sheba that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord," 1 — have 




THE SITE OF SHILOH. 



delighted infancy and instructed manhood throughout the civilized world for 
three thousand years. 

The subsequent history of this favoured spot is very mournful. Par- 
taking in the wickedness and idolatry of Samaria, and then deserted by the 
apostate people for more favoured shrines, it soon sank down into ruin and 
desolation, so that in the time of the later kings it became a conspicuous 
instance of the fate which awaits all who forsake God. God " forsook the 
tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men." " But go ye now 
unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and 
see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel." " I will make 
this house (the Temple) like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the 
nations of the earth." 2 The same lesson is thus taught us here as in the cities 
in which our Lord's mighty works were performed, that privileges abused or 
neglected can only increase our guilt and deepen our ruin. 

1 I Sam. i.-iii. 2 Psa. lxxviii. 60. Jer. vii. 12 ; xxvi. 6. 



142 



£HECHEM, EBAL,, AND QEKI^IM. 



hortly after leaving Seilfin we descend 
into the broad and fertile plain of El 
Mukhna. Two parallel ridges of mountains 
bound the view on the north-west. Rising 
to a height of two thousand seven hundred 
feet above the level of the sea, 
they are conspicuous objects in the 
landscape, and are visible 
from a great distance. Else- 
where in Palestine we are 
struck by the contrast be- 
tween the grandeur of the 
history, and the unim- 
pressive character of the 
scenery ; but these noble 
and massive forms are 
a fitting theatre for the 
grandest events. They 
are Ebal and Gerizim. 
In the narrow valley 
between them was 
Shechem, where Abram 
pitched his tent, and built his first altar, on his entrance into the Promised 
Land. 1 In the plain at the foot was the parcel of ground which Jacob bought, 
where he digged a well, and erected an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel, 
{God, the (God of Israel). 2 Close by is the sepulchre in which the embalmed 




ARAB AT TENT DOOR. 



1 Gen. xii. 4-7. 



2 Ibid, xxxiii. 18-20. 



14s 



SHECHEM, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



body of Joseph was buried when his descendants came up from Egypt. 1 On 
those opposing heights the blessings and the curses of the Law were recited, 
whilst the people stood in the valley between. 2 It was on Gerizim that 
Jotham spoke his parable of the trees choosing a king. 3 In this ancient and 
venerable sanctuary, the kings of Israel received their inauguration, 4 and after 
the secession of the northern tribes, Jeroboam fixed here his capital. 5 And 
it was in this birth-place of the Jewish nation, that our Lord proclaimed the 
abrogation of all that was local and temporary in the covenant with Abraham 
and his seed, " Neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem shall ye worship 
the Father. . . . God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship 
Him in spirit and in truth." 6 The associations of this spot thus cover the 
whole range of Hebrew history, from its commencement to its close. 

The circumstances of our Lord's memorable visit are stated with great 

precision. It was 
on his way from 
Judaea into Galilee, 
• in the early spring 

. : — "there are yet 

four months, and 
then cometh har- 
vest "■ — at the hour 
of noon — " Jesus be- 
ing wearied with his 
journey sat thus on 
the well, and it was 
about the sixth 
hour." At the same 
season, by the same 
route, at the same 

THE VALLEY OF SHECHEM, WITH EBAL AND GERIZIM. llOUr, We readied the 

well. Early in the 

year though it was, we found the heat very great and the journey toilsome. 
Thankful indeed were we to arrive at the resting-place. The fields were 
bright with the tender green of spring-time. The wide expanse of pasture 
and the patches of young corn were inexpressibly refreshing to the eye 
after our long sojourn among the barren hills of the south. In due time 
" the sower and the reaper would rejoice together." But alas ! the spiritual 
harvest which had seemed ready to the reaper's hand as our Lord spoke, 
has issued only in disappointing failure. The divine Husbandman himself 
gathered in the first fruits ; those that followed found " tares " only. The 




Gen. 1. 25-26. Joshua xxiv. 32. 
Judges ix. 7-20. 
I Kings xii. 25. 



2 Deut. xi. 29-30; xxvii. 1 2- 1 3. Joshua viii. 33. 
4 1 Kings xii. I. 2 Chron. x. I. 
John iv. 



144 



JACOB'S WELL AT SHECHEM. 



bitter animosity with which the Samaritans regarded the Jews was soon 
turned against the Christians. Even when the empire had become nominally 
! Christian, violent and murderous persecutions broke out against the followers 
of Him who had here proclaimed Himself the Messiah, "I, that speak unto 
thee, am He." And as though inheriting the fanatical hostility of their 
ancestors, the present Moslem population of Nablus, are amongst the most 
bigoted and violent in the whole East. 

The well is still " deep," though the bottom is choked with rubbish and 
the stones cast into it by travellers. The measurements, however, vary 




Jacob's well and Joseph's tomb. 



considerably. Maundrell, and Robinson in his first edition, make the depth 
one hundred and five feet ; McCheyne, Wilson, and Calhoun only seventy- 
five. The careful and repeated soundings of my own party nearly coincide 
with the latter statement ; we made it seventy-eight feet. I can suggest no 
way of reconciling these discrepancies. It is probable that the depth may have 
diminished since the visit of Maundrell in 1697. Robinson does not appear to 
have measured it himself, but to have relied upon the report of his companions. 
I he upper part of the shaft is lined with rough masonry. After copious rains 
there is a little water in the bottom, but ordinarily the well is quite dry. 

A few hundred feet north of Jacob's well, in the same " parcel of 



SHECHEM, EBAL, AND GERIZIM, 



ground," is Joseph's tomb. The structure over it is modern, and is an 
ordinary Mohammedan wely. There is, however, no reason to doubt the 
authenticity of the tradition which fixes upon this as the sepulchre of the 
patriarch. The deep alluvial soil would not allow of the interment being in 




NABLUS. 



a rock-hewn grave ; but if the coffin were of granite or alabaster, like those 
of Egyptian magnates, it might yet be recovered if excavation were permitted. 
We have, however, already seen, when speaking of the cave of Machpelah, 
that the Mohammedans assert that the body was removed from its original 
place of sepulture and placed with those of the other patriarchs at Hebron. 



THE VALLEY OF SHECHEM. 



The valley leading up to Nablus, the Neapolis of the Romans, the 
Sychar or Shechem of the Jews, is one of rare beauty. Dr. Porter says, 
with slight exaggeration, "it is the finest in Palestine — in fact, it is the only 
really beautiful site from Dan to Beersheba." Without the grandeur of 
the snow-crowned peaks of Switzerland, it yet reminded me of the Swiss- 
Italian valleys in its bright colour and rich vegetation. Van de Velde's descrip- 
tion of it is graphic and truthful : " Here there is no wilderness, here there are 
no wild thickets, yet there is always verdure ; always shade, not of the oak, 
the terebinth, and the carob-tree, but of the olive grove — so soft in colour, 
so picturesque in form, that for its sake we can willingly dispense with all 
other wood. Here there are no impetuous mountain-torrents, yet there is 
water ; water, too, in more copious supplies than anywhere else in the land ; 
and it is just to its many fountains, rills and water courses that the valley 
owes its exquisite beauty. . . . There is a singularity about the Vale of 
Shechem, and that is the peculiar colouring which objects assume in it. You 
know that wherever there is water, the air becomes charged with watery 
particles ; and that distant objects beheld through that medium seem to be 
enveloped in a pale blue or grey mist, such as contributes not a little to 
give a charm to the landscape. But it is precisely these atmospheric tints 
that we miss so much in Palestine. Fiery tints are to be seen both in the 
morning and the evening, and glittering violet or purple-coloured hues where 
the light falls next to the long deep shadows ; but there is an absence of 
colouring, and of that charming dusky haze in which objects assume such 
softly blended forms, and in which also the transition in colour from the 
foreground to the farthest distance loses the hardness of outline peculiar to 
the perfect transparency of an eastern sky. It is otherwise in the Vale of 
Shechem, at least in the morning and the evening. Here the exhalations 
remain hovering among the branches and leaves of the olive-trees, and hence 
that lovely bluish haze. The valley is far from broad, not exceeding in some 
places a few hundred feet. This you find generally enclosed on all sides ; 
there likewise the vapours are condensed. And so you advance under the shade 
of the foliage along the living waters, and charmed by the melody of a host of 
singing birds — for they, too, know where to find their best quarters — while the 
perspective fades away, and is lost in the damp vapoury atmosphere." 1 

To enjoy this lovely scenery in its full perfection, we must spend the 
evening hours on one of the flat roofs of the city. One such evening I shall 
never forget. Ebal and Gerizim were glowing in the light of the setting 
sun. The long stretch of orchards and gardens along the valley were already 
dim in the purple shadows. The noise from the crowded streets died away. 
The stars began to peep out. The landscape faded from view. Our evening 
hymn of praise ascended to the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who 
" sendeth darkness and it is night." 

1 Van de Velde, i. 386, 388. 

149 



S HECHE M, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



The abundance of water to which Van de Velde refers raises the 
question why Jacob should have dug a well so deep, with so much cost and 
labour, when the natural springs of the valley would have sufficed him ? 
Why, too, should the Samaritan woman have come hither from the city, 
nearly two miles distant, to draw water, when she must have passed 
numerous fountains by the way ? The reply to the first question is, that 
throughout the East water is jealously guarded by the inhabitants, who resent 
the intrusion of strangers upon their rights. In the book of Genesis, as 
amongst the fellahin and bedouin of to-day, we find no case of contention as 
to pasturage, but numerous instances of feuds arising out of the use of wells 
and fountains. And, as Dean Stanley remarks, we have here an illustration 
of the characteristic prudence and caution of Jacob, who carefully avoided all 
causes of quarrel with the tribes amongst whom he had settled. 

The reply to the second question is probably to be found in the fact 
that there are indications that the ancient city extended farther to the 
eastward and nearer to the well than the present. There may, too, have 
been reasons for preferring the water drawn from hence. Its superior quality 
—orientals are epicures in this respect — or the hallowed associations connected 
with the well may have prompted the Samaritans to fetch it from a distance, 
though there were fountains close at hand. 1 

Doubts and difficulties have often been expressed as to the possibility of 
the law being read on the opposite mountains of Ebal and Gerizim whilst 
the people were encamped between them. It has been said that at so great 
a distance the voices must have been inaudible. Some commentators have 
felt this so strongly that they have sought for an Ebal and Gerizim elsewhere. 
Infidels have made merry over the assumed incredibility of the narrative.' 
But no real difficulty exists. Just where the valley begins to narrow a deep 
depression indents the sides of the opposing mountains, up which at the 
height of a few hundred feet two level plateaux confront each other. At this 
spot, which seems as though it had been created for the very purpose, the 
reading of the law probably took place, the priests standing on the plateau 
on either side, the people in the plain below. We tried the experiment 
under the most unfavourable circumstances. A very high wind was blowing 
down the valley, carrying the sounds away from us. Neither of the readers 
had powerful voices. And yet not only could we who remained in the 
valley hear them, but they heard one another with sufficient distinctness 
to read alternate verses, each beginning where the other left off. Had the 
day been calm or the readers possessed voices of greater power, every word 
would have been distinctly audible. This is due partly to the conformation 
of the hill sides forming, as it were, a double amphitheatre, partly to the 

1 Dr. Porter illustrates this by the fact that the people of Damascus fetch water from a well more than a mile 
distant from the city, though every house has its own reservoir, and fountains are abundant. 

2 See Smith's ' Dictionary of the Bible,' under the words Ebal and Gerizim. 

150 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS OF GERIZIM. 



elastic quality of the dry atmosphere of Syria which conveys sound to an 
amazing distance. 

The side of Ebal, the mountain of the cursing, is barren and rocky as 
compared with that of Gerizim, the mountain of the blessing. The latter is 
clothed with abundant pasturage to the very summit. The ascent is steep 
and difficult, but it well repays the labour, even if it were for the view alone. 
Nearly the whole extent of Palestine is visible — the hills of Galilee, the 
mountains of Benjamin and Judah, the Mediterranean and the great Philistine 
plain, the valley of the Jordan, the plains of Bashan and the mountains of Moab. 
Hermon is just hidden by an intervening height. The Samaritans assert, 
and many modern scholars maintain, that here, and not on the southern 
Moriah, Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac. A more imposing site could 




RUINS ON THE SUMMIT OF GERIZIM. 



hardly be found, and reading the narrative on the spot the imagination is 
strongly enlisted in favour of the opinion which has found so able a de- 
fender in Dean Stanley. 

But that which invests the summit of Gerizim with an interest absolutely 
unique, is the fact that here, and here alone, the feast of the Passover is 
still celebrated in accordance with the Mosaic ritual. The Jews for eighteen 
centuries have been unable to observe their great national festival. The 
Samaritans have never ceased to do so. I should gladly have been present 
at this interesting ceremony, but as it wanted three weeks to the full 
moon of the month Nisan, I was unable to remain. I received, however, 
a minute description of the ceremony from a native of Nablus who has often 



S 'HECHE M, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



witnessed it, and Yacoub, the high priest, gave me much information on 
the subject. 

Near the ruins of their ancient Temple and, as they allege, close to the 
spot where Abraham offered Isaac, and Joshua placed the stones inscribed with 
the words of the law from Gilgal, two pits have been dug, and a long 
trench formed and lined with stones. Early in the morning of the day the 
officials commence their preparations. Fuel is gathered and a large fire 
kindled in each of the pits, prayers being recited the whole time. Over one 
of the pits two large cauldrons are placed and filled with water. In the 
afternoon, the lambs five or six in number, are driven to the spot. The 
narrative of the institution of the Passover is now chanted in a high key, the 
women who stand round joining in with shrill excited cries. At a signal 
from the priest the lambs are thrown across the trench, and, in an instant, a 
keen long knife is drawn twice across the throat of each, nearly severing the 
head from the body. When the blood has been thoroughly drained from the 
carcase it is either dipped into the cauldron or the boiling water is poured 
over it to enable the shochetim to strip off the wool without difficulty. The 
entrails having been taken out and burnt, the portions allotted to the priests 
removed and salt added, the bodies are placed upon spits made, it is said, of 
pomegranate wood. A transverse bar is affixed to one end of the spit to 
prevent the body slipping. This forms a rude cross. Justin Martyr, a native 
of Nablus, writing in the second century, says that the fore-legs were 
fastened to the cross-bar. Though this is no longer done, there is no reason 
to doubt the accuracy of his statement, nor can we wonder that he saw in 
it a type of the crucifixion of the true Paschal Lamb. The bodies are now 
placed amongst the hot ashes of the oven prepared for the purpose. A 
hurdle is placed over it and covered with earth so as to retain the heat. In 
about three hours the earth is removed, the hurdle torn off and the lambs 
drawn out amidst the wild excited cries of the people. During the early 
part of the ceremony they had stood barefooted in acknowledgment of the 
sanctity of the place, but now having resumed their shoes, tied girdles of 
rope round their waists and taken staves in their hands, they proceed eagerly 
and hastily to tear off and eat portions from the bodies, over which bitter 
herbs have been sprinkled. In an incredibly short time the whole has been 
consumed excepting the bones. These are then collected and with every 
fragment that can be found, after the most diligent search, are thrown into 
the fire to be consumed. The ceremony concludes soon after midnight. It 
was described to me as strangely impressive. The wild cries of the 
worshippers, the glare of the fires, the mountain top and the surrounding 
landscape lit up by the light of the full moon, the solemn associations of 
the rite and the place, must together make up a scene of intense interest. 

The Samaritans — "the smallest and the oldest sect in the world" — are 

now reduced to one hundred and twenty persons, all of whom reside in 

152 



THE SAMARITANS. 



Nablus. The aged priest Amram, mentioned favourably by Wilson, Dean 
Stanley, and Mills, has lately been deposed from his office in consequence of 
an intrigue conducted by his nephew and successor, Yacoub. The latter 
looks about thirty years of age, though he is probably older. He has 
remarkably handsome and finely-chiselled features, but with a sinister, un- 
pleasant expression. He professes to be able to trace his pedigree in an 
unbroken line from Aaron. The account he gives of his ancestry is that, 
down to the time of Nehemiah the high priesthood continued in one unbroken 
line, but that then one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high 
priest, having married the daughter of Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, 1 
refused to put her away when required to do so. Hereupon a schism took 
place, and from this point his genealogy follows a different line to that of 
the high priest of Jerusalem. He said that a genealogical table, laid up 
with the copies of the law in the Holy Place of the synagogue, gave all the 
generations of this pedigree, and that it recorded the most memorable events 
that happened in the period of each high priest. He declared that amongst 
these memorabilia was one recording that " a prophet named Jesus had 
appeared at Jerusalem, but that the priests there, with their usual wickedness 
and malignity, had put him to death out of envy." If such a contemporary 
record does indeed exist, it would be a document of extraordinary interest 
and value. He adhered to his statement, notwithstanding my strongly- 
expressed incredulity, and promised to send me extracts from the original 
roll. These, however, I have not received. The character for untruthfulness 
which the Samaritans bear excites suspicion, but it is difficult to see what he 
could hope to gain by deceiving me. 

The synagogue of the Samaritans is a small secluded edifice, entered 
through a walled garden, out of which an enclosed court conducts into the 
building itself. It is only thirty-seven feet and a few inches in length, and 
perhaps twenty feet in breadth ; the walls are whitewashed and the floor 
covered with matting. A place is railed off for the Holy Place, in a recess of 
which the volumes of the law are kept. We were of course anxious to see 
the famous copy of the Pentateuch, declared to have been written by 
" Abishua, the great grandson of Aaron, at the door of the Tabernacle in 
the thirteenth year of the settlement of the children of Israel " in the Holy 
Land. Though this is recorded in the body of the manuscript itself, the 
statement is discredited, and the most contradictory opinions are entertained 
amongst scholars as to its actual date, some ascribing to it a venerable 
antiquity, and others insisting that it is comparatively modern. 

Having taken off our shoes at the entrance, Yacoub locked the door, so 
that none of his co-religionists might enter, and took out from the recess a 
roll of the law, which he declared to be the one we desired to see. According 
to his usual custom, however, he was endeavouring to palm off upon us a 

1 Neh. xiii. 28. 

J S3 



SHE CHE M, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



duplicate instead of the original. He persisted to the last in the assertion that 
this duplicate was the copy shown to the Prince of Wales and his party in 1853, 
and there seems reason to believe that this was really the case. The fraud 
being detected, he, after much hesitation and a promise of liberal backshish, 
produced the genuine manuscript. It is wrapped in a cover of red satin 
embroidered with gold, and enclosed in a cylinder of silver, which opens on 



hinges. 




CYLINDER ENCLOSING THE SAMARITAN 
PENTATEUCH. 



10 



REUBEf/ SlMEOfl 



OA 



HOLIEST 




O 
a: 



VEIL 



LEViTES LEVIES 



LEVI TES 



ALT AR 
OF 



TABLE 
SHEW BREAD 



TENT Q* THE 

Co*GRECA7tO/i 



/WWWW\ 




L Av Eft 



NAPHTALI 



AS HER 



DAN 























40 


8 | 


31 ' 


32 


\33 


34 


3S 


36 1 


37 


38 


39 



TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTIONS 
ON THE COVER. 



Mr. Mills, who resided three months in Nablus in order to acquaint 
himself thoroughly with the Samaritans, says of it : " The roll itself is of 
what we should call parchment, but of a material much older than that, 
written in columns twelve inches deep and seven and a half inches wide. 
The writing is in a fair hand, but not nearly so large or beautiful as the 
book-copies which I had previously examined. The writing being rather 



154 



THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. 



small, each column contains from seventy to seventy-two lines. The name of 
the scribe is written in a kind of acrostic, and forms part of the text, running 
through three columns, and is found in the Book of Deuteronomy. Whether 
it be the real work of the great grandson of Aaron, as indicated in the 
writing, I leave the reader to judge ; the roll, at all events, has all the ap- 
pearance of a very high antiquity, and wonderfully well preserved, considering 
its venerable age." 

One of the halves of the metal cylinder is very curious, and deserves more 
attention than it has received at the hands of Biblical archaeologists. It is of 
silver, about two feet six inches long, by ten or twelve inches in diameter, and is 




jMniliilillitUM'i'HiUiilVlUl'MiitiltMlllli-HlllirMJIItMijli l'HHLlli 



it (/ -5»".£ 'X ^"W^™^ 




TWO PAGES OF A BOOK COPY OF THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. 
From a Photograph taken for the "Palestine Exploration Fund." 

covered with embossed work with a descriptive legend attached to each portion. 
I procured a rubbing from Yacoub, and on my return to England found that it 
had been photographed by the Palestine Exploration Fund. Yacoub said that 
it was a plan of the Temple and its furniture ; on examination, however, it 
proves to be the Tabernacle of the Wilderness. Mr. Van Straalen, successor 
to Mr. Deutsch at the British Museum, has been good enough to examine 
it for me, and reports that the letters are Samaritan, not later than the 
fourth century, and probably older. Some of the lettering he has been 
unable to decipher. The annexed engravings show the cylinder and a 
translation of the inscriptions, so far as they are yet read. 

On the outer rim are a series of numbers running from one to sixty. 



SHECHEM, EBAL, AND GERIZIM. 



These probably refer to the posts, which appear to have been numbered so 
as to avoid confusion and delay in the erection of the Tabernacle on its 
arrival at the camping-ground. The instructions given to Moses " in the 
Mount," were, that there should be twenty boards on each side, but at the 
corners were to be two boards additional. At the end, behind the most holy 
place, were to be six boards. Nothing is said about the entrance, which 
apparently was to be left open. 1 Posts, however, would be needed to sustain 
the framework with its covering. This would give 24+24 + 6 +6 = 60, 
the numbers shown in the plan. 

We then find the names of the twelve tribes. These are given not 
according to patriarchal seniority or tribal precedence, but in the order of the 
encampment and march, as recorded in the Book of Numbers. Judah, Issachar, 
and Zebulon are on one side. These tribes formed the vanguard of the 
army, and were followed on the march by the Tabernacle itself. Then came 
Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. As soon as they "set forward" they were 
followed by the ark, which was thus in the midst of the people whether 
marching or camping. Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin come next ; then 
Dan, Asher, and Naphtali bring up the rear. 2 

In the Holiest of Holies we find the ark, with its crown or rim of 
beaten gold, upon which are the cherubim kneeling face to face, whilst their 
wings projecting behind them overshadow the mercy-seat. 3 On one side of 
the ark is the staff of Moses, on the other that of Aaron. The veil hangs 
down in front concealing the mysterious recess. Immediately in front of the 
veil are the stations of the Levites. The altar of incense comes next, and 
then the table of shewbread with the candlestick " over against the table, on 
the side of the tabernacle, southward." 4 The spoons, bowls, and covers are 
marked in the place indicated by Moses near the table. 5 The entrance from 
the outer court was, as the Talmud describes it, not in the centre, but on 
the right-hand side. 

The laver stands at " the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation," 
that the priests might wash as they entered into the holy place. 6 Near it is 
the altar of burnt offering, with its "brazen grate of network of brass." 7 
This grating or network has been the subject of much controversy amongst 
Biblical critics. The representation here given, favours the view of those who 
suppose it to have been an inclined plane leading up to the altar. The 
censer is placed immediately over against the altar of burnt offering, that the 
priests might take the coals from the sacrifice, and therewith offer the incense 
of thanksgiving. 8 The flesh-hooks, forks, knives, pans, and basins, are 
represented as arranged around the altar. The trumpets at the entrance are 
peculiar in form, and may throw some light upon a question much debated 
amongst students of the Talmud as to the shape of one which appears to 

1 Exod. xxvi. 15-25. " Num. ii. 11-27. 3 Exod. xxv. 10-22. 

1 Ibid. xl. 22-25. 5 Ibid. xxv. 29 ; xxxvii. 16. c Ibid. xl. 12, 30. 

" Ibid, xxvii. 1-^8. 8 Rev. viii. 3. 9 Exod. xxxviii. 3. 

156 




IN A BAZAAR. 



NABLUS AND ITS INHABITANTS. 



have been bent in the manner represented. The date and value of this 
curious relic are as yet doubtful. Subsequent investigations may throw light 
upon its origin. 

The few survivors of the Samaritans are now rent asunder by intestine 
feuds. Apparently, they will speedily cease to exist altogether. Their 
synagogue rolls may then come into the hands of Europeans, and receive a 
more careful and thorough examination than has been hitherto possible. 

In Nablus alone of all the cities of Palestine is it possible to see and 
feel what " the good land " was in the days of its prosperity. In addition 
to the fertility of its soil and the beauty of its situation, there is an air of 
activity and life which is wanting elsewhere. Lying on the main road between 
the interior and the coast it has a considerable traffic. Its bazaars are 
crowded with bedouin from beyond the Jordan, with the peasantry of the 
valley, and with Russian, Armenian and Greek pilgrims who, having landed 
at Haifa, are on their way to Jerusalem. The wrangling and chaffering 
between the buyers and sellers belonging to these various nationalities offer a 
curious contrast to the quiet modes of transacting business at home. The 
shopkeeper begins by asking four times as much as he means to take. The 
customer meets him by bidding a fourth of what he means to give. Bystanders 
join in the negotiation. The whole party work themselves up into what appears 
to be a fit of uncontrollable fury, shrieking and yelling at one another in 
their guttural Arabic till manslaughter seems imminent. At length the bargain 
is concluded, and peace is restored. 

Nablus boasts of some manufactures. Considerable quantities of soap 
are made, and one large factory has quite a European look. The oil produced 
here is the best in Palestine ; and large quantities of cotton are grown. 




GATE AT NABLUS. 



*59 




NABW TO THE P^ftlN OF E^DH^EEON. 




A charming ride of about six miles north- 
-L*- west from Nablus brings us to Samaria. 
The road follows the valley for some 
distance, and then mounts the western 
shoulder of Ebal. As we reach the 
crest of the ridge, a beautiful and fertile 
plain, surrounded by hills, bursts upon 
us. In the centre of the basin rises a 
flat-topped hill, its sides terraced to the 
summit, on which stand the remains of 
the ancient city. Rows of columns are 
seen clear and sharp against the sky- 
line, and amongst the mean houses 
of the peasantry stand the ruins of the 
magnificent city built here by Herod, 
and called by him Sebaste ( = Augusta) in honour of his imperial patron. 

The great and obvious advantages of the site of Samaria make it 
extraordinary that a city did not exist here at a very early period. The 
Biblical narrative, however, is clear, that it was built by Omri, the father of 
Ahab, who bought the hill from Shemer for two talents of silver, and 
built on it a city which he called Samaria, after the name of the former 
proprietor. 1 Shechem, the earlier capital, lying in a valley, was exposed to 
attack. Samaria seated on a hill could be easily defended, and was more 
central. The seat of government was, therefore, removed thither, and gave 
its name to the northern confederacy. The strength of its position is proved 
by the fact that it sustained two severe sieges from the Syrians who 
attacked it with " all their hosts." 2 On the first occasion Benhadad, brought 



RUINED CHURCH OF ST. JOHN IN SAMARIA. 



1 I Kings xvi. 23-24. 



2 1 Kings xx. 2 Kings vi. 24 — vii. 20. 



160 



RUINS OF SAMARIA. 



against it " thirty-two kings," his allies. On the second, it held out till the 
last horrors of famine had been endured. In both cases the city finally 
escaped by divine intervention ; but it must have been almost impregnable to 
have held out against such formidable attacks. 

Climbing the rather steep ascent that leads up into the city, we come to 
a large pool or reservoir. Though it does not possess the same marks of 
antiquity as those at Hebron, Urtas and Bethel, it has yet been identified 
with some probability as that near which Naboth was slain by the infamous 
and idolatrous Jezebel, and where shortly after, " one washed the chariot of 
Ahab in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and they 
washed his armour according to the word of the Lord, which he spake." 1 

Near " the pool of Samaria " are the remains of a large and handsome 
Christian Church, in the cave under which, according to a very early tradition, 
the body of John the Baptist was buried after his execution. 2 Though the 
date of the edifice is comparatively modern, it leads back our thoughts to 
Apostolic times, when " Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached 
Christ unto them, and the people with one accord gave heed unto those things 
which he spake." Such was the success of his ministry that Peter and John 
joined him in the work. Here it was that the divine judgment fell upon Simon 
the Sorcerer — a solemn warning to after ages of the danger of mercenary 
motives in religious profession. 3 

Of the earlier city of Omri and Ahab no trace remains. The threatenings 
of ancient prophecy have been literally fulfilled. " I will make Samaria as a 
heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard ; and I will pour down the 
stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof." 
" Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious 
beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them 
that are overcome with wine ! Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, 
which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty 
waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand." " Samaria 
shall become desolate ; for she hath rebelled against her God." 4 Standing on 
the summit of the hill, and looking down on the mounds of stone poured into 
the valley below, it would be difficult to find a more exact accomplishment 
of prophecy than that before us. The ruins of the city subsequently built 
upon the site are very striking, not only from their extent but from their 
character and position. A double avenue of Corinthian columns may yet be 
traced along the whole brow of the hill. The colonnade, according to Dr. 
Porter, runs eastward in a straight line for about one thousand feet, and then 
curves round to the left, following the sweep of the hill, extending altogether 
about three thousand feet. On the north-eastern slope of the hill the ground 



' i Kings xxi. 1-19 ; xxii. 34--31. It is, however, doubtful whether Jezreel was not the scene of the double tragedy. 
2 Matt. xiv. 12. Mark vi. 29. 3 Acts viii. 1-25. 

* Micah i. 6. Isa. xxviii. 1, 2. Hosea xiii. 16. 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRA EL ON. 



falls back into a natural amphitheatre. The central part of this seems to have 
been cut into steps forming tiers of seats, as though a theatre had been con- 
structed here. In front of these earthworks are the remains of another very 
remarkable structure. Dr. Porter calculates that when the edifice was complete 
there must have been one hundred and seventy columns, of which fifteen are still 




THE HILL OF SAMARIA. 



standing. But we have no clue to the character of the building of which they 
formed part. 

From Samaria northwards two routes of great interest and beauty lie 
before us. The one leads westward through a line of valleys of extraordinary 
fertility, where in spite of the sparse population and the depredations of the 

Bedouins large crops of wheat and barley meet the eye. A few wretched 

162 



CMS A RE A. 



villages stand amidst the luxuriant vegetation, the inhabitants of which, un- 
protected by the government, have to repel, as best they can, the attacks of 
the marauding nomads whose black tents may be seen on every hillside. These 
sons,of Ishmael, in whom the prophecy respecting their father is still exemplified, 
"he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's 
hand against him," 1 render travelling without an escort dangerous, but they 
add greatly to the picturesqueness and interest of the scene. In the evening 
their long lines of flocks and herds pouring into the encampment form a most 
striking object in the landscape, and the elders may often be seen grouped 




RUINS OF THE CITY OF SAMARIA. 



around a tent door recounting their exploits, or planning a foray upon some 
hostile tribe, or listening to a story-teller reciting a tale from the ' Arabian 
Nights Entertainments.' Upon a life of settled industry they look down with 
contempt; " Mayst thou become a fellah" (a peasant) is one of the bitterest 
curses which a Bedouin can pronounce upon his fellow-wanderer. 

Soon we enter the northern portion of the plain of Sharon, through 
the centre of which we passed on our way eastward from Jaffa. Leaving 
behind us the mountains of Samaria and reaching the shores of the 
Mediterranean, we find ourselves at Kaisariyeh, the ancient Cesarea. 
This city was built by Herod the Great, with the design of connecting 

1 Gen. xvi. 12. 

165 

. -*« 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



himself more closely with the western world, and leaving behind him a 
lasting monument of his power and magnificence. A vast mole was run 
out into the sea to afford a secure harbour for shipping. A city was 
reared which might vie in splendour with those of Italy, and surrounded with 




RUINS OF CAESAR E A. 



fortifications which were deemed impregnable. A temple to Caesar containing 
statues not inferior to that of Jupiter Olympius, so Josephus asserts, rose on 
an eminence within the walls. But the attempt thus to perpetuate his 
memory was vain. All has gone down to utter ruin and decay. Even in 
Palestine itself it would be hard to find a spot more utterly desolate than 



THIRZA, THEBEZ, AND DOTH AN. 



that of the proud capital of Herod. In the present day it is only remembered 
by its connection with the obscure, hated, and despised sect whose founder he 
sought to slay in His cradle at Bethlehem, and to whose death at Calvary his 
son and successor was a consenting party. It was the scene of some of the 
most memorable incidents in the Acts of the Apostles. Here Philip the deacon, 
after the baptism of the Abyssinian eunuch, lived for many years as the pastor 
of a prosperous church, and the centre of missionary activity throughout the 
whole region. The first Gentile convert was here admitted into "the fellow- 
ship of the saints," in accordance with the vision vouchsafed to Peter at Joppa, 
a day's journey down the coast. It was at Caesarea that Herod Agrippa 
was smitten with the Divine judgment upon his impious pride and vain- 
glory. Hither Saul of Tarsus was brought on his way from Jerusalem ; 
and here Paul the Apostle, as a prisoner, "reasoned of temperance and 
righteousness and judgment to come " with such persuasive force as to draw 
from one of his judges the confession, " Almost thou persuadest me to be a 
Christian." 1 

Continuing our journey we soon leave the plain of Sharon, and find our- 
selves amongst the lower spurs of Carmel, whose long ridge runs out as a 
bluff promontory into the sea, a few miles to the northward. This, however, 
will more fitly occupy a place in a subsequent section. 

The other route from Samaria to Galilee leads us through a district 
richer in Scriptural associations than that just described. It runs almost due 
north through a series of picturesque glens, or over romantic hills which need 
only a moderate amount of labour to be turned into a succession of gardens. 
At a little distance to the right is Taluza, the Tirzah of the kings of Israel, 
a royal residence, the beauty of which furnished Solomon with the comparison, 
"Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah!" 2 A little farther on is Tubas, 
or Thebez, where Abimelech was slain by the hand of a woman, his igno- 
minious death furnishing a proverb for after years. 3 

About twelve miles north of Nablus, and just before descending into the 
plain of Jezreel we pass the entrance to a broad, deep valley, or basin amongst 
the hills on our right. Its name, Dothan, recalls one of the most memorable 
incidents in the lives of the patriarchs which formed one of the turning-points in 
the history of the Church and of the world. Joseph, sent by his father to visit 
his brethren in their favourite camping-ground at Shechem, found on his arrival 
that they had passed northward to Dothan. Hither, therefore, he followed 
them ; and " when they saw him afar off they conspired against him to slay 
him." Having cast him into one of those deep pits with which the district yet 
abounds — excavations formed by the inhabitants of the land for storing grain 
or water, often shaped like an inverted funnel — they left him to perish. 

1 Acts viii. 40 ; ix. 30 ; x. I, 24 ; xi. 11 ; xii. 19 ; xviii. 22 ; xxi. 8, 16 ; xxiii. 23, 33 ; xvi., xxv., xxvi. 

2 1 Kings xiv. 17 ; xv. 21 ; xvi. 6, 8, 15, 23. Cant. vi. 4. 3 Judges ix. 50. 2 Sam. xi. 21. 

167 



-_ 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



Relenting in their murderous purpose, or prompted by the selfish hope of 
gain, they subsequently drew him thence, and sold him to a company of 
Midianites from Gilead, who were passing on their way down into Egypt. 1 
Upon this slight incident the whole after-fortunes of the nation turned. 

Here, as elsewhere throughout Palestine, a study of the topography 
of the district gives unexpected confirmation or illustration to the narrative. 
Dothan lies just off the main route by which the Bedouins, like the Ishmaelites 
of old, travel on their way southward. Crossing by the upper ford of the 
Jordan, near to Beisan, the ancient Bethshan, the caravans enter the main 




JENIN, THE ANCIENT EN-GANN1M. 



road at Jenin, a short distance to the north, and pass the very spot indicated 
by the inspired historian. I met several parties of Bedouins near Dothan, 
"who came from Gilead with their camels," conveying the produce of the 
Hauran to exchange it in the bazaars of Jerusalem, Nablus, or Jaffa for the 
manufactures of Europe, which is to the Syrian nomads of the present day 
what Egypt was to their forefathers three thousand years ago. 

The mound, of ruins which rises from the valley of Dothan, marks the 
site of the city. It was here that Elisha hid himself from the fury of the 

1 Gen. xxxvii. 12-28. 

168 



THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



king of Syria, when the monarch, infuriated at the repeated disclosure of his 
plans by the prophet, resolved to put him to death, and for this purpose 
" compassed the city both with horses and chariots." But whilst the valley 
was filled with the "great host," "behold the mountain was full of horses and 
chariots of fire round about Elisha," so that he could confidently say, " Fear 
not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." 1 As 
we look at the valley girdled with hills on every side, and remember the 
mighty host of defenders once revealed there to the eye of faith, we gratefully 
call to mind the promise made to every believer, "The angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." 2 

The town of Jenin, which lies at the junction of several valleys and 
roads, is a place of considerable importance. Its Scripture name, En-gannim, 3 
(the fountain of the gardens) seems to be derived from a magnificent fountain 
of water which rises in the hills just behind the town, and irrigating the rich 
alluvial soil turns it into a garden. It has the reputation of being unhealthy ; 
but its picturesque minarets, surrounded by clumps of feathery palms, gardens 
of cactus and prickly pear, and luxuriant orange groves, make it one of the 
most beautiful towns in Palestine. Dr. Wilson, in his " Lands of the Bible," 
calls attention to the peculiar head-dress of the women of this district, and 
thinks it illustrates the words of Solomon, " Thy cheeks are comely with 
rows [of jewels], thy neck with chains [of gold]. 4 Strings of gold coin hang 
down from a sort of tiara upon the cheeks, like the tie of a helmet, and a 
similar ornament is worn round the neck. A colony of Egyptians was settled 
in this neighbourhood about half a century ago, and as it resembles the head- 
dress of the fellaheen of Egypt it may have been derived from them, but it 
is probably much older. 

We are now at the entrance of the great Plain of Esdraelon, so 
memorable in the military history of the Jews as the scene of some of their 
greatest victories, and most disastrous defeats. It forms an irregular triangle, 
stretching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley, bounded on the north 
by the hills of Galilee, on the south by those of Samaria. Amongst the 
former Tabor is the most conspicuous, both from its height and its peculiar 
pyramidal form. The long ridge of Carmel stretches along the south-western 
side. The mountains of Gilboa and Little Hermon rise out of the plain 
itself at the eastern end. 

Near the centre of the plain on a low flat-topped hill at the foot of the 
western extremity of Gilboa, are a cluster of wretched mud hovels, now called 
Zerin. They mark the site of Jezreel, the seed plot of God as the name 
means, and which it probably gained from the extraordinary fertility of the 

1 2 Kings vi. 8-18. 2 p s . xxx i v . 7. 

3 The description of the flight of " Ahaziah, king of Judah," and his pursuit by Jehu, in 2 Kings ix. 27, is wrongly 
translated in our version. Instead of "by the way of the garden-house," it should be " by the way of En-gannim." A 
glance at the map will show that he was endeavouring to escape into his own country by the direct route along which 
we have been travelling. * Cant. i. 10. 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



soil. 1 Here stood the " ivory palace " of Ahab and the temple of Astarte 
with its four hundred priests supported by Jezebel. On the eastern side over- 
looking a steep rocky descent into the plain was the house of Jezebel, from 
the window of which she was cast down at the command of Jehu. Killed 
by the fall, she was left to be devoured by the troops of pariah dogs which to 




HEAD-DRESS OF EGYPTIAN FELLAHEEN. 



this day prowl and snarl around every oriental city, and are its only scavengers. 
The ruins of an ancient tower probably mark the spot where the watchman 
stood looking out along the valley toward the Jordan, and saw Jehu driving 
furiously towards the city. Though only the lower courses of the original 
Migdol or watch-tower remain, yet a view may be gained for miles in the 
direction from which Jehu was approaching, and every incident in the nar- 

1 This explains the use of the word in Hosea ii. 22. 

170 



JEZREEL. 



rative can be made out. A smooth open space outside the city is pointed 
out as Naboth's garden. The fountain by which he was slain, and where 
the blood was washed from the chariot of Ahab is likewise shown, but the 
biblical narrative seems to point to Samaria rather than to Jezreel as the 
scene of the murder and the retribution. 1 




PLAIN OF ESDRAELON, WITH RUINS OF JEZREEL, AND GILBOA IN THE DISTANCE. 



A few flat-roofed hovels are all that remains of the beautiful city whose 
only associations are those of idolatry and lust and bloodshed. One marble 
sarcophagus, and the fragments of two or three others lie outside the modern 
village. The crescent moon, the familiar symbol of the goddess of the 

1 The references are too numerous to be given in detail. They extend from I Kings xvi. 29 to xxii. 40, and 
2 Kings x. 

171 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



Zidonians is sculptured upon them. It is possible, perhaps even probable, 
that these very coffins once held the bones of the royal house which " taught 
Israel to sin." 

The scene of the great battle between Sisera, the captain of Jabin king 
of Hazor, and the Israelites under " Deborah the prophetess," and " Barak, 
the son of Abinoam," was at the western end of the plain. Sisera was 
encamped at the foot of Carmel near the Canaanitish city of Megiddo with 
"his nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him 
from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon." The Kishon is 




MOUTH OF THE RIVER KISHON. 



a small stream which rises at the eastern end of Carmel and flows into the 
Mediterranean. In summer it is nearly dry, but it rises with great rapidity and 
when swollen by storms of rain becomes a rushing roaring torrent. 1 The little 
army of Deborah consisted of the men of the northern tribes who had suffered 
from the oppression of the king of Hazor. Those of the south and east were 
indifferent to the sufferings of their brethren. " Reuben abode amongst the 
sheepfolds to hear the bleatings of the flocks," " Gilead abode beyond Jordan," 
" Dan remained in ships," and " Asher continued on the sea-shore." But 

1 A friend of mine who had crossed it dry-shod in the morning, when riding from Haifa to visit El-Muhrakah, was 
exposed to considerable danger when endeavouring to recross it in the afternoon, and narrowly escaped being swept away. 
172 



DEBORAH, BARAK, AND GIDEON. 



" Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, 
in the high places of the field." With them was a contingent from Ephraim, 
Benjamin, and Issachar. The small but heroic band of ten thousand men 
encamped on Mount Tabor, a strong position, which commands a view 
of the whole plain. At a signal from Deborah, Barak, with his com- 
pact and resolute army, rushed down upon the foe and threw them into 
confusion. Josephus informs us, that a sudden and violent storm of sleet and 
hail aided the attack. " The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." 
The river swelling from a petty brook into a furious torrent completed the 
rout. "The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river 
Kishon." Sisera alighting from his chariot fled away on foot, and as a solitary 
fugitive met his death from a woman's hand. 1 

No long time elapsed before a new and yet more terrible oppressor was 
sent as a scourge to chastise "the children of Israel, who again did evil in the 
sight of the Lord." Every traveller in the Vale of Esdraelon has seen the 
black tents of the Bedouins who have crossed the Jordan with their flocks and 
herds for the rich pasturage which they here find. Until within the last few 
years these wild maurauders were accustomed to lay waste the whole district, 
carrying off the crops and the cattle of the peasantry without any check from 
the corrupt and feeble government. It was from this quarter that the new 
foe appeared. Vast hordes of these "children of the east . . . came up with their 
cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude ; for both 
they and their camels were without number." "They destroyed the increase 
of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither 
sheep, nor ox, nor ass." A "mighty man of valour," Gideon, the son of 
Joash, was summoned by the angel of the Lord to undertake the task of 
deliverance. He began by throwing down the altar to Baal. The invaders 
at once gathered their forces to crush the rising spirit of resistance. They 
pitched their tents all along the valley of Jezreel. Gideon and his men were 
encamped on the mountains of Gilboa. Just where the mountains subside 
into the plain a spring of water gushes out in such abundance as to form a 
pool of considerable size, and then flows down to the Jordan. Gideon, who 
had already reduced his numbers by dismissing to their homes all who were 
"fearful and afraid," was now ordered to reduce them still further by bringing 
them down to the fountain to drink. The great majority went down upon 
their hands and knees and drank from the stream. But three hundred hardy 
veterans were satisfied to take a little water in the palms of their hands and 
"lap it as a dog lappeth," whilst they stood alert and erect upon their feet. 
This was the little band by whom God was to work deliverance for Israel. 
The smallness of the number would show that God " saveth not by many, 
nor by few," but by his own power. And the selected few — men vigorous, 
temperate, and self-denying — were fitting instruments for Him to work with. 

1 Judges iv. v. 

173 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



NAZARETH 




Night had now closed over the scene. Gideon and his servant having crept 
down amidst the sleeping hosts and overheard the narrative of a dream told 
by one of the invaders to his companions, returned and prepared for the 
attack. Dividing his men into three companies of a hundred each, they rush 
upon the unsuspecting enemy. The trumpets peal out their shrill and 
startling blast ; the lamps flash forth in the midst of the tents ; the war-cry 
of Israel — "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon" — is heard rising loud and 
high above the din; "and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow 
throughout all the host : and the host fled " in wild confusion and disorder to 
the fords of the Jordan, a few miles to the eastward. Here, as they attempted 
to cross, they were attacked a second time, suffered a second defeat, and two 
of their sheiks, Oreb and Zeeb — the Raven and the Wolf — captured and put 
to death. Gideon and his three hundred heroes, "faint, yet pursuing," con- 
tinued to press upon the rear of the flying foe. Coming up with them in 
Karkor he attacked and defeated them yet a third time. Finding that their 
kings Zebah and Zalmunna had "slain his brethren, the sons of his mother," 



174 



SAUL AND THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



— — PELIA . - — ■ _ . — 




SURROUNDING DISTRICT, FROM EL-MUHRAKAH. From a Drawing by J. G. Crace, Esq. 

he put them to the sword. This disastrous defeat finally broke up the 
Bedouin confederacy. Never again whilst the Jewish commonwealth lasted 
did "the children of the East" attempt an invasion. 1 

The valley which had been the scene of these great victories was next 
to witness a mournful defeat — that of Saul by the Philistines. The two 
armies were encamped in nearly the same positions with those of Gideon and 
the Midianites — the Israelites on Gilboa near the fountain of Jezreel, the 
Philistines at Aphek, or Shunem, on the opposite side of the valley. Saul, in 
his moody despair, "when he saw the host of the Philistines, was afraid, and 
his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord 
answered him not, neither by dream, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets." 
Like the great captain who long before had encamped on the same spot he 
undertook a night journey, past the host of the Philistines, to the village of 
Endor, which lay in the mountains a few miles in the rear of their camp. 
His interview with the witch whom he went to consult but deepened the 

1 Judges vi., vii., viii. 

175 



NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



dark and gloomy cloud which hung around him. Next morning the battle 
was joined, the Israelites were defeated, and "fell down slain in the moun- 
tains of Gilboa." The tragic end of Saul, and the pathetic lament of David 
are too familiar to need further record here. 1 

The inspired narrative contains allusions to other engagements of minor 
importance as having been fought on this great battle-field : one of these scarcely 
less mournful than the defeat and death of Saul is recorded in detail. It was 
towards the close of the Jewish monarchy ; that of Israel had already dis- 
appeared. Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, on his way to attack the Assyrians, 
was marching through this valley. Josiah, either to preserve the integrity of 
his territory, or as being in alliance with the king of Assyria, met him at the 
western end of the plain, near ■ Megiddo. Necho warned him against 
"meddling" in the conflict which concerned the Assyrians solely, and in 
which he had no part. The result cannot be told more briefly and simply 
than in the words of Scripture. " Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his 
face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and 
hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came 
to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah ; 
and the king said to his servants, Have me away ; for I am sore wounded. 

His servants therefore 
took him out of that 
chariot, and put him in 
the second chariot that he 
had ; and they brought 
him to Jerusalem, and he 
died, and was buried in 
one of the sepulchres of 
his fathers. And all Judah 
and Jerusalem mourned 
for Josiah. And Jeremiah 
lamented for Josiah : and 
all the singing men and 
all the singing women 
spake of Josiah in their 
lamentations to this day ;- 
and made them an ordin- 
ance in Israel : and, be- 
monastery on mount carmel. hold, they are written in 

the Lamentations." 2 
One more event yet remains to be spoken of in connection with this 
famous battle-field. It has been already said that the ridge of Carmel forms 
one of the southern boundaries of the plain. Its north-western extremity runs 

1 I Sam. xxviii., xxxi. 2 Sam. i. 2 2 Chron. xxxv. 22-25. 

i 7 6 




ELIJAH ON MOUNT CARMEL. 



out into the Mediterranean, and is crowned by the convent of Mar Elyas from 
which the Carmelite monks take their name. At its south-eastern end, a 
short distance below the summit, is a level plateau which looks down upon 
Jezreel and commands an extensive view over the whole plain. Its modern 
Arabic name is El Muhrakah {the place of burning, or of sacrifice). A 
perennial spring, which is said never to fail even in the severest droughts, 
furnishes a copious supply of water. Near the foot of the hill is a mound 
called the Tel Kasis {the hill of the priests). The river Kishon which flows 
along the plain immediately below the plateau is called the Nahr el Mukatta 
{the river of slaughter). 1 All these names naturally connect themselves with 
the sacrifice of Elijah, who on this plateau brought together the priests of 
Baal, and when they had failed to win an answer from their idol gods, built 
an altar, and drawing water from the fountain which after three years' drought 
still furnished an adequate supply, poured it over the sacrifice. The Lord 
God of Israel answered by fire. The appeal was irresistible. The whole people 
exclaimed with one voice — " The Lord, He is God ; the Lord, He is God." 
Within sight of the idolatrous city, and beneath the eyes of the king, the apostate 
priests were seized, dragged down to the mound and river, and slain. 

The prophet now ascends to the top of the hill just above, from which a mag- 
nificent view of the Mediterranean is obtained. Burying his face in his mantle, 
in importunate prayer, he sends his servant to look out toward the sea. At 
last a cloud is descried no larger than a man's hand. For three years the 
sky had been cloudless. Now the harbinger of rain is gratefully welcomed. 
The prophet returns with the glad tidings to the monarch — " Prepare thy 
chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not." These words have 
caused some perplexity to commentators. Their meaning becomes perfectly 
clear as read on the spot. The river Kishon, easily fordable at this point, and, 
doubtless, perfectly dry after the protracted drought, would soon become a 
rushing, furious torrent, as in the days of Sisera. Besides which the Plain 
of Esdraelon consists of a rich alluvial soil which after a heavy rain-fall becomes 
absolutely impassable for carriages, and is difficult even for horsemen or 
pedestrians. If Ahab is to return to Jezreel he must do so at once. " And 
it came to pass, in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with clouds and 
wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 
And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins, and 
ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 2 

This famous battle-field, the scene of Israel's most glorious victories and 
most disastrous defeats, finds a place in the prophecies of the New, as well 
as in the histories of the Old Testament. The name by which it is commonly 
known, Esdraelon, is but a Grecised form of the Hebrew Jezreel. It was 

1 It is, however, possible that Mukatta may be a corruption of Megiddo. 

2 I Kings xviii. In common with all recent writers on this subject, I must confess my obligations to Dean Stanley's 
invaluable summary of the historical associations of the Plain of Esdraelon, in his ' Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 335—357- 

N 177 



NABLOUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 



likewise called the valley of Megiddo from the town near which some of its 
most desperate conflicts raged. Hence in the book of Revelation it is spoken 
of as "the place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon" {the hill, or 
fortress of Megiddo). This is not the place in which to discuss the precise 
meaning of the prophecy, nor to enquire whether the inspired writer indicated 
a particular locality as the scene of the final conflict, or used this historical 
plain as typical of the battles yet to be fought between the powers of light 
and darkness. One thing is clear, that the struggles of which the valley has 
been the theatre only foreshadowed that more desperate conflict which awaits 
us when "the spirits of devils, working miracles, go forth unto the kings of 
the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day 
of God Almighty. 1 Whatever the time, the place, the nature of that final 
conflict may be, its terribleness cannot be doubted as we read the descriptions 
given of it in the visions of Patmos. But the issue is certain. The wars of 
ancient Israel were waged with doubtful fortune — victory and defeat alternated. 
But in that "great day of God," though the battle seem to hang long in 
suspense, the victory is sure. The "Captain of our Salvation" "goeth forth 
conquering, and to conquer." "He must reign till He hath put all enemies 
under His feet." Nor is the conflict altogether future. Even now it rages 
around us, and we are summoned to take part in it. Neutrality and in- 
difference are impossible. " He that is not with us is against us." May the 
solemn words of reproof and warning spoken of those who stood aloof in the 
Valley of Esdraelon sink into our hearts. " Curse ye Meroz ! said the angel 
of the Lord, Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof! Because they came 
not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord, against the mighty." 
" How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow 
him ; but if Baal, then follow him." 2 

1 Rev. xvi. 12-21. 2 Judges v. 23. 1 Kings xviii. 21. 




PROMONTORY OF CARMEL, FROM THE SEA. 



178 



NORTHERN PALESTINE, 
OR GALILEE. 



N 2 



179 



£Ol/THEKN C,ftL,ILEE AND NA^ftKETH. 



T t is difficult to fix with precision the boun- 
daries of Galilee and Samaria. Originally 
the Samaritan kingdom included the whole 
territory of the ten northern tribes from 
Dan to Bethel ; but very soon it shrank 
within much narrower limits. Galilee, at 
first a small " circle," as the name means, 
around Kadesh Naphtali, on the frontiers 
of Tyre, 1 had in the time of our Lord 
become a province of great extent stretch- 
ing southward to the ridge of Carmel 
and the mountains of Gilboa. The Plain 
of Esdraelon, which under the kings of 
Israel had been in the centre of Samaria, 
was under the Romans its northern boundary, and belonged to Galilee. 
Jezreel and the other historic sites in the neighbourhood being so closely 
connected with the southern kingdoms have been spoken of in the preceding 
chapter. We now proceed to the region lying to the north of the plain. 

Galilee thus defined consists of a series of fertile hills and valleys, stretch- 
ing down from Hermon in the north to Tabor and Little Hermon on the 
south. Its uplands are better wooded, its valleys and plains are richer, its 
natural beauty greater than the rest of Palestine. Van de Velde truly 
describes it as "a land rich in beauty and fertility. A thick wood of oaks 
and other trees continued for a considerable way over the heights, again 
through the valleys, but everywhere characterised by a luxuriance of verdure, 
by which you can recognise at once the fertility of Naphtali's inheritance." 

1 Joshua xx. 7. I Kings ix. 11. 

181 




FOUNTAIN OF MARY AT NAZARETH. 



SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH. 



It was a region in which Asher should " dip his foot in oil ;" Zebulun and 
Issachar "rejoice in their going out, and in their tents" and "suck of the 
abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand ;" and Naphtali be 
"satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord." 1 

Among the hills of Southern Galilee Tabor is conspicuous, not so 
much from its greater elevation — it only rises one thousand four hundred feet 
from the plain — as from its peculiar form. It is a truncated cone, detached 
from the surrounding heights, and forms a very striking object from which- 
ever side it is approached. Its general contour reminded me of the Wrekin 
in Shropshire. Formerly it was richly wooded to the very summit ; but the 
timber has been cut down, and now only a few clumps or detached trees 
spring from the verdant turf which clothes its sides. The view from the 
summit is magnificent, commanding a panorama from the mountains of 
Gilead to the Mediterranean, from Hermon, with its snowy summits, to Ebal 
and Gerizim on the south. Well might the Psalmist exclaim, 

" The north and the south Thou hast cieated them : 
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name." 

Its traditional claim to have been the scene of the transfiguration is now 
universally abandoned. This must be sought for farther north, among the 
gorges of the Hermon, near Banias, the ancient Caesarea Philippi. 

In crossing the hills of Galilee from Esdraelon to Nazareth, we pass 
three villages, each with a place in the inspired record. The first is Solem, 
the ancient Shunem. It lies at the foot of Little Hermon, about three miles 
from the fountain of Jezreel. Luxuriant orange groves and corn-fields, fenced 
with hedges of prickly pear, encompass a cluster of mud-walled, flat-topped 
hovels. The inhabitants seemed a merry, good-humoured, contented race, 
fearing nothing but a Bedouin raid, or a visit from the Turkish tax-gatherer. 
Blocks of marble, with traces of sculpture upon them, probably brought from 
the ruins of Jezreel, are worked into the mud-walls of the village, and the 
largest house has a couple of willow-pattern plates, like those we noticed at 
Bethel, with a dish to match, over the doorway. But there is nothing to 
remind us that this is the scene of one of the most touching incidents which 
the Bible records. It was here that a "great woman" of the village, "the 
good, kind Shunammite," made "a little chamber on the wall, and set there 
a bed, and a stool, and a candlestick," that the prophet might freely pass in 
and out. Content to dwell "among her own people" she refused to "be 
spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host." And when a son was 
granted to her old age her cup of happiness was full. Whilst scarcely a trace 
of the ancient village exists, the surrounding scenery remains unchanged. It 
was in these luxuriant corn-fields that the child, smitten by sunstroke, "said 
to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his 

1 Deut. xxxiii. 18-24. 

182 



EN DOR, NAIN, AND NAZARETH. 



mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he 
sat on her knees till noon, and then died." We follow the bereaved mother, 
choking down her sobs, and saying "It is well," as she rides hurriedly across 
the plain to the prophet's haunt on Carmel, and sympathize with her joy as 
she receives back her son. 1 

A little farther to the north stands another village, to which a more 
tragic interest attaches — Endor, the goal of Saul's journey the night before 
his death. The Israelites, as we have seen, were encamped near the fountain 
of Jezreel on Mount Gilboa, the Philistines at Shunem, about midway between 
Endor and the camp of Saul. The king at the peril of his life gropes his 
way past the outposts of the enemy to reach the woman who is to reveal to 
him the secrets of the future. The village retains its ancient name un- 
changed. And one of the numerous caves still, as formerly, used as dwellings 
may have afforded a fitting abode for the miserable and wicked woman whose 
heart relented towards the doomed and despairing king. 2 

A ride of about fifty minutes brings us from Endor to Nain. It is a 
small, poor village, standing on the 
shoulder of a hill, looking down on one 
arm of the Valley of Esdraelon. Not 
very far from Nazareth, and visible 
across the valley from the hill above 
the town, it is by no means improbable 
that our Lord may have known the 
young man and his widowed mother. 
If, as many suppose, He was Himself 
" the only son of his mother, and 
she was a widow," a special reason 
for the miracle is at once discovered in 
His deep human sympathy with a case 
so like His own. A steep path leads 
up the hill side to a group of rock-hewn 
graves, marking the site of the ancient burial-place of the town. It was 
on this very path that our Lord saw the weeping mother and " had com- 
passion, and said unto her, Weep not." Turning to the bier, His word of 
pity became a word of power, and " He said, Young man, I say unto thee, 
Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered 
him unto his mother." 3 

But a spot of yet deeper and more absorbing interest than any we have 
visited since we left Jerusalem draws us onward, and we hasten over the 
intervening space till we reach Nazareth. Up among the hills to the 
north of the plain is a valley about a mile in length, and perhaps a quarter 
of a mile in breadth. Several smaller valleys run out from it, and at the 

1 2 Kings iv. 8-37. 2 I Sam. xxviii. 3-25. 3 Luke vii. 1-15. 

185 




NAIN. 



SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH. 



junction of two or three of these it expands into a basin over which the hills 
rise to a height of four hundred or five hundred feet. "It seems," says 
Dr. Richardson, rather fancifully, " as if fifteen mountains met to form an 
enclosure for this delightful spot : they rise round it like the edge of a shell 
to guard it from intrusion. It is a rich and beautiful field in the midst of 
barren mountains." The bottom of the basin is bright with gardens and 
orchards, divided by hedges of prickly pear twelve or fourteen feet high. 
The town stands on the western side of the valley and rises a little way up 
the slope of the hill. It has a brighter, cleaner, and more prosperous look 
than any town we have seen since leaving Nablus. The population was 
estimated by Robinson at four thousand. It has increased since then, and 
is now probably about five thousand. Of these a large proportion are Christian 
in profession, though it is to be feared that their conduct is little in keeping 
with the pure and high morality of the gospel. Two large monasteries, one 
of the Greek, the other of the Latin rite, contain a large number of monks. 
A recently established Protestant mission seems to be efficient and successful. 

The inhabitants of Nazareth, like those of Bethlehem, are deservedly 
famed for their personal beauty. I was fortunate enough to be present at 
the wedding festivities of a wealthy landed proprietor in the town. The bride, 
unfortunately, was absolutely ugly ; but I was greatly struck by the fine 
features of many of the women and the noble bearing of the men. Dr. Porter 
says truly, "If we go out and sit for an hour of an evening by the little 
fountain, we shall see many a face which Raphael might have chosen as a 
study when about to paint his Madonna del la Seggiola, and many a figure 
that Phidias might have selected as a model for Venus." 

Monkish legends and traditions of course are rife throughout the town 
and neighbourhood. Always offensive, they are doubly so here, both from 
their absurdity and from the contrast they afford to the silence of Scripture 
respecting the youth and early manhood of our Lord. We are shown the 
workshop of Joseph, the house of Mary, and the place from which it was 
carried away to find its final resting-place at Loretto ! A cave is pointed 
out as the place of the Annunciation. A large slab of stone is declared to 
be the table at which our Lord and His disciples ate before and after the 
Resurrection. The traditional Mount of Precipitation is two miles away from 
the town in defiance of the express statement of Scripture that it was on 
" the brow of the hill on which the city was built." 1 

The fountain of Mary at the eastern end of the town is a place of deep 
interest. At all hours of the day groups of girls may be seen who have 
come hither to draw water. It is the common centre around which the 
whole life of the village gathers. The pilgrim stops to quench his thirst, the 
shepherd to water his flocks, the girls, with merry song and laughter, fill their 
pitchers, linger for a gossip with their friends, then poising the vessel upon 

1 Luke iv. 28-29. 

186 



NAZARETH. 



their shoulders, walk away with light and graceful step. The fountain has 
been here from time immemorial, and seems always to have been the main, if 
not the only source of water-supply for the inhabitants. It was to the fountain, 
which now bears her name, that Mary came, day by day, amongst the village 
maidens, to fill her pitcher and return to her home. The Protevangelion, one 




CLIFF BEHIND THE MARONITE CONVENT AT NAZARETH. 

of the earliest of the Apocryphal gospels, says that it was here that she 
received the angelic salutation which marked her out as the mother of the 
Lord. The narrative however seems to indicate what the probabilities of the 
case imply, that the event happened in the seclusion of her own dwelling. 

A hasty and general survey of the site of Nazareth produces the im- 
pression that it contains no cliff down which Jesus could have been " cast 

189 



SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH. 



headlong." The town lying along the lower slope of the hill, no steep declivity 
is visible. But a more careful examination corrects the error and confirms 
the narrative of the evangelist. I found two or three precipitous walls of 
rock of thirty or forty feet in depth. One of them had a considerable accu- 
mulation of debris at the bottom which if cleared away would probably give 
twenty feet more. Dean Stanley's remarks are well worth quoting. " ' They 
rose' it is said of the infuriated inhabitants of the city, 'and cast Him out of 
the city, and brought Him to a brow of the mountain on which the 
city was built, so as to cast Him down the cliff.' 1 Most readers probably 
imagine a town built on the summit of a mountain, from which summit the 
intended precipitation was to take place. This, as I have said, is not the 
situation of Nazareth, yet its position is in strict accordance with the narrative. 
It is built upon, that is on the side of 'a mountain,' but the brow is not 
beneath but over the town, and such a cliff as is here implied is to be found 
in the abrupt face of the limestone rock, about thirty or forty feet high, 
overhanging the Maronite convent at the south-west extremity of the town." 

To gain a true idea of the scenes amidst which the first thirty years of 
our Lord's earthly life were passed we must climb the hills which rise above 
the town. There is very little in the Nazareth of to-day to recall that of 
eighteen hundred years ago. Not a single building is now standing which 
was standing then. It is even doubtful whether the site remains unaltered : 
and we know that important changes have passed over the scenery of the 
neighbourhood. The soil has lain fallow and unproductive for centuries. A 
silent, unpeopled solitude stretches for miles around us. But in our Lord's 
days Galilee was like a garden in its luxuriant fertility. The hills, now so 
bare and barren, were terraced and cultivated to their very summits. A 
numerous and thriving population occupied the soil. " The little hills re- 
joiced on every side ; the pastures were clothed with flocks ; the valleys also 
were covered over with corn." 2 But amidst all these changes the great 
natural landmarks remain the same. As we stand on the ridge which rises 
just above the town, we know that we tread on the very spots where Jesus 
of Nazareth often walked, and that we look on the landscape which was beneath 
His eye. The hills, the valleys, the sea, the plains make up a scene of 
surpassing beauty, the main features of which are unaltered by the lapse of 
centuries. Below us lies the little town in the peaceful seclusion of its quiet 
valley — far from the busy crowd, aside from the thronged highways. On the 
west the sun is sinking down into the sea, leaving a broad line of light across 
the Mediterranean. Hermon, on the north, with its crown of snow, glows in 
the fading light. "The excellency of Carmel and Sharon" stretch away to 
the south. Eastward the eye ranges over the hills of Galilee, the valley of 
the Jordan, and the rich plains of Gilead beyond. The view though some- 

1 Luke iv. 29. The translation is slightly altered, so as to bring it into closer agreement with the original. 

2 Ps. lxv. 12, 13. 

190 



NAZARETH. 



what less extensive than that from Tabor is even more beautiful. The hours 
of a Sabbath afternoon and evening spent in meditation and prayer on the 
thymy turf of this glorious upland have left behind them memories which no 
lapse of time can efface or weaken. 

The numerous flocks of sheep and goats which were being led in to be 
folded for the night formed a striking object in the landscape, and recalled to 
mind a question which has perplexed many eastern travellers. Our Lord, 
speaking of His coming to judgment, says, " And before Him shall be 
gathered all nations ; and He shall separate them from one another as a 
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." 1 But the sheep and the goats 
are invariably brought in together. I had failed to find any instance in which 
they were divided. This, of all others, was the place to seek an explana- 
tion. It was given me by a shepherd who was leading his flock past the 
spot where I stood. The division is made not in the evening when the flocks 
are folded, but in the morning as they are taken out to pasture. The goats 
travelling much more quickly than the sheep and thriving upon a much 
scantier vegetation, are driven up to the mountain tops where they pick 
their food from amongst the rocks and stones. The sheep are kept upon 
the lower slopes, where the grass is more abundant and the pasturage richer. 
It is thus not to the night of death when "like sheep they are laid in the 
grave," 2 but the resurrection morning to which the illustration points and 
when the final separation shall be made. In this case, as in so many others 
the seeming discrepancy arises from our imperfect acquaintance with the 
facts. A more complete knowledge not only removes the apparent difficulty, 
but brings out a deeper meaning in the sayings of Him whose "words are 
spirit and are life." 

We cannot leave Nazareth without reflecting on the silence of Scripture 
respecting our Lord's residence here. Of the thirty-three years of His earthly 
life twenty-eight were spent in this secluded valley ; yet the history of those 
years is an almost total blank. A journey to Jerusalem is the only incident 
recorded. " The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom : 
and the grace of God was upon Him ... He was subject unto His parents. 
. . . He increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." 3 
This is all we know — no more. Imagination, working upon Apocryphal 
legends and obscure hints, has endeavoured to fill in the vague outline with 
biographical details. But the attempt is unwarranted, even if it be not 
irreverent. It is impossible for us to lift the veil which hides these years of 
mysterious growth and silent preparation. When " the day of His showing 
unto Israel" had come, He emerged from His obscurity; and we shall trace 
His footsteps on the shores of the neighbouring lake, the world's great Teacher, 
revealing God to man, and man to himself. 

It was at Cana of Galilee, the home of Nathanael, 4 that our Lord 

1 Matt. xxv. 32. 2 Ps. xlix. 14. 3 Luke ii. 40, 52. 4 John xxi. 2. 

o 193 



SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH. 



worked His first miracle, "and manifested forth His glory." 1 There are two 
villages near Nazareth, still bearing a similar name, each of which has been 
regarded as the scene of the manifestation. Kefr Kenna, a small village 
about an hour and a half to the north-west, and Kana-el-Jelil at double the 
distance. The former is the traditional site. The claims of the latter are 
supported by the deservedly high authority of Robinson, and its name is 
absolutely identical with that of the Biblical narrative. It is perhaps impossible 
to decide in which of the two it was that 

" The modest water, awed by power divine, 
Confessed the God, and blushed itself to wine." 

With the exception of a fountain, apparently of the Roman period, said to 
have been the place from which the water was drawn, there is nothing in 
either of them to connect itself with the miracle. In the wedding festivities 
at Nazareth, of which I have already spoken, the bride was brought from 
near Kefr Kenna. The innumerable quests who thronoed the house for a 
week, served to illustrate and to account for the inadequacy of the supplies 
provided for a similar festivity in the time of our Lord. 

1 John ii. i-ii. See also John iv. 46-54 for an account of a second miracle wrought here. 




FOUNTAtN- AT CANA. 



THE LAKE OP QENNE^AHETH. 



|NE of the most interesting passages in the 
writings of Josephus is that in which he 
narrates the history of his campaign 
against the Romans on and around the 
Lake of Gennesareth. Having spoken 
of the clear, cold waters of the lake, 
the innumerable ships and boats which 
floated upon it, and the prosperous towns 
and villages which lined its banks, he 
proceeds to describe the fertile plain 
from which it takes its name. " The 
country also that lies over against this 
lake hath the same name of Genne- 
sareth ; its nature is wonderful as well 
as its beauty ; its soil is so fruitful that 
all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and 
the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there ; for the temper of the 
air is so well mixed, that it agrees very well with those several sorts, par- 
ticularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish there in vast plenty ; 
there are palm-trees also, which grow best in hot air ; fig-trees also and olives 
grow near them, which yet require an air that is more temperate. One may call 
this place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally 
enemies to one another to agree together ; it is a happy contention of the 
seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this country ; for it not only 
nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men's expectation, but pre- 
serves them a great while ; it supplies men with the principal fruits, with grapes 
and figs continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits 

O 2 195 




TOWN AND LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



as they become ripe together, through the whole year ; for besides the good 
temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain. The 
people of the country call it Capharnaum." 1 

The traveller who visits the Lake with this passage in his mind, and 
expects to find its descriptions realised is doomed to disappointment. The 
population has disappeared. To the stir of busy life a mournful silence has 
succeeded. A single filthy ruinous town — Tiberias — half-a-dozen wretched 
villages, and the black tents of the Bedouins, are the only human habitations 
on the banks. Where Herod, Josephus, and Titus could, without difficulty, 




THE NORTH SHORE OF THE LAKE, NEAR TELL HUM. 



collect fleets of from three hundred to five hundred vessels, I only found three 
small fishing-boats, and these so dilapidated that their owners dared not launch 
them except in a perfect calm. The soil is fertile and productive as ever, 
but labour is wanting to break up the fallow ground, to cast in the seed, or 
to reap the harvest. 

But there is a sense in which this mournful silence and solitude are felt 
to be not inappropriate. There is nothing to distract our thoughts from that 
Divine Presence which here abode in human form. One great memory 
lingers undisturbed amongst these hills and valleys. The bustle of modern 
life and the squalid misery and degradation of the eastern peasantry would 

1 Bell. Jud. x. § 8. 

ig5 



THE LAKE OF GENNESA RE TH. 



equally clash with the sacred, tender associations of the spot where "most 
of His mighty works were done," most of His "gracious words" were 
spoken. The stage is empty, and there is nothing to prevent our peopling 
it with hallowed memories of Him who spake as "never man spake," who 
was Himself "the way, the truth, and the life." 

The contrast between the silence of Scripture as to our Lord's life at 
Nazareth and the ample details which it gives of His life here is very striking. 
To mention them all would be to quote the larger part of the first three 
gospels and some of the most striking incidents of the fourth. He " dwelt 
in Capernaum" which was "His own city." 1 On the shores of the lake He 
called Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew to be His disciples. 2 In 
the villages and towns around it "most of His mighty works were done." 3 
In a mountain overlooking it, from a boat upon it, and in a town on its 
banks, He taught the people in His most memorable discourses. 4 Over its 
waters He often sailed, on them He walked, hushed its storm to a calm, 
and rescued His faint-hearted disciple who was sinking beneath them. 5 In 
a desert place on its shore he twice fed the assembled multitudes. 6 But 
space is wanting to enumerate all the mighty deeds and gracious words of 
which this hallowed spot was the scene, and which culminated in that 
affecting interview when He manifested Himself to His disciples after His 
resurrection and restored Peter to the place from which he had fallen in the 
apostolic band. 7 

In the Old Testament the lake is known as the sea of Chinneroth, or 
Chinnereth, from a city which stood on its north-western shore. 8 Gennesareth 
is probably a Grecised form of the earlier name, though its etymology (a 
garden of riches) suggests a very suitable derivation. By this name or by 
that of the Sea of Galilee it is commonly known in the New Testament. 
John, writing after the city of Tiberias had risen to importance as the capital 
of Galilee, speaks of it as "the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias," 9 
a fact which is not without importance as fixing the date of his gospel. 

The road from Nazareth to Tiberias leads over the low ridge which 
bounds the valley on the north-west, across a broken table-land, and through 
the village of Kenna, already spoken of as the traditional site of Cana in 
Galilee. Sefurieh, the ancient Sepphoris, is passed. It played an important 
part in the heroic but unsuccessful resistance of the Jews to the Romans 
under Titus, and hither the Sanhedrim retired after the fall of Jerusalem. 
The battle-field of Hattin is likewise distinctly seen, where the last oreat 
battle was fought between the Crusaders and Saladin, issuing in the total 
destruction of the Christian army and the establishment of the Moslem power 

1 Matt. iv. 13 ; ix. I. 2 Ibid. iv. 18-22 ; ix. 9. 

3 Ibid, ix., xi. 20-24. Luke x. 13-15. 4 Matt, v., vii., xiii. Mark iv. John vi. 24-71. 

5 Matt. viii. 23-27 ; xiv. 25. Mark iv. 37-41 ; vi. 48. Luke viii. 23-25. John vi. 19. 
" Matt. xiv. 15-21 ; xv. 32-39. r John xxi. 

5 Num. xxxiv. II. Deut. iii. 17. Joshua xi. 2. 1 Kings xv. 20. 9 John xi. 1 ; xxi. 1. 

197 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



in the East. The hills which enclose the lake soon come into view, but the 
lake itself is not seen till we reach the summit of the steep descent which 
leads down to Tiberias, a thousand feet below us. The clear, blue, placid 
waters lie in a deeply depressed basin nearly seven hundred feet below 
the level of the sea. Some geologists have supposed it to be the crater of 
an extinct volcano. More careful investigation, however, proves that this 
is a mistake. It is but a part of that long line of depression which, starting 
from the sea level near the Lake Huleh, sinks down along the whole Ghor 
or valley of the Jordan, till at the Dead Sea it has reached the unparalleled 
depth of thirteen hundred feet. 

The lake is about thirteen miles in length by about six or seven in 
breadth at the widest part. The mountains on the eastern side rise to a 
height of two thousand feet, but they are flat and monotonous, destitute 
alike of colour and of foliage. The scenery has neither the bold outline of 
the Swiss lakes, nor the rich verdant loveliness of our own. The tamer parts 
of Windermere, stripped of their glorious mantle of forests, the grey hill-sides 
bleak and bare, would give a not unapt illustration of the shores of the Sea of 
Galilee. 

We do not read that our Lord ever entered Tiberias. The reason 
is doubtless to be found in the fact that it was practically a heathen city, 
though standing upon Jewish soil. Herod, its founder, had brought together 
the arts of Greece, the idolatry of Rome, and the gross lewdness of Asia. 
There was a theatre for the performance of comedies, a forum, a stadium, 
a palace roofed with gold in imitation of those in Italy, statues of the 
Roman gods, and busts of the deified emperors. He who "was not sent 
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel " might well hold himself 
aloof from such scenes as these. 

Modern Tiberias is a village of about two thousand inhabitants. A large 
proportion of these are Jews, who regard it as one of their holy places and 
have here a rabbinical school. It is filthy and squalid beyond even the 
average of eastern towns. From the swarms of vermin with which it is in- 
fested the Arabs have a proverb that "the king of the fleas lives at Tiberias." 
Wilson says that on spending a night here he was literally covered with 
them and plucked them from his coat by handfuls. In common with other 
places in the valley of the Jordan it suffers severely from earthquakes. In 
the great shock of January, 1837, the Turkish walls which surround the 
town were shattered, and in many places laid prostrate. As under the present 
government nothing is ever repaired, the fortifications remain in the dilapidated 
condition in which they were left nearly forty years ago. 

Northward from Tiberias the hills on the western side slope gently down 
nearly to the edge of the lake. The strip of shore is of extraordinary fertility. 
Though now uninhabited and uncultivated, it is easy to believe that the 

glowing descriptions of Josephus were in no degree exaggerated. In about 

198 



MAGDALA. 



an hour after leaving Tiberias we find the hills gradually recede, leaving a 
broad open plain — that of Gennesareth. The only sign of human habitation 
is a cluster of mud hovels near the water's edge. There are a few remains 
of other buildings, one of which seems to have been a watch-tower (Migdol). 
A palm-tree rises from the centre of the village and a few thorn bushes 
cluster round it. The modern name Mejdel reminds us that this was 
Magdala, the place where our Lord came ashore after feeding the multitude 
on the opposite bank, 1 and the home of Mary Magdalene. 2 Into the disputed 
questions as to her history we do not enter here. We know how great a 
debt of gratitude she owed to her Lord, who had delivered her from de- 




MAGDALA. From a Sketch by T. Jenner, Esq. 



moniacal possession in its most aggravated form ; and how fondly and de- 
votedly she attached herself to His service, ministering to Him of her substance, 
waiting at His cross, present at His entombment, watching at His sepulchre, 
and first to welcome her risen Lord when He had burst "the bonds of death " 
and "led captivity captive." As we stand amongst these crumbling ruins 
and squalid hovels we cannot but reflect upon the fact that through her the 
name of this spot has passed into all the languages of Christendom, is com- 
memorated in the noblest ecclesiastical edifice of modern France, and holds 
a conspicuous place in our military history as that of the almost impregnable 
stronghold of a bloodthirsty Abyssinian tyrant. 

Every step we took in this district, hallowed by so many sacred associa- 
tions, seemed to furnish a fresh commentary on the discourses of our Lord, 

1 Matt. xv. 32-39. 

- Matt, xxvii. 56-61 ; xxviii. I. Mark xv. 40 ; xvi. I-Il. Luke viii. 2, 3 ; xxiv. 10. John xix. 25 ; xx. 1-1S. 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



Every detail in the parable of the sower passed under our view — the hard 
pathway running through unenclosed fields upon which the seed fell without 
finding entrance, the soil choked with thorns through which the tender blades 
were struggling, the thin, shallow coating of earth resting upon the rock 
beneath, and the luxuriant growth of the rich deep loam bringing its return 
of a hundredfold to the sower. 1 The edge of the lake is fringed with 
thickets of oleander in full bloom. The turf carpeted with an incomparable 
profusion of wild flowers, the variety and splendour of which surpassed all 




By Permission of M r. M acgrej>07\ 
SOUTHERN END OF THE SEA OF GALILEE. 

that I had seen elsewhere, covered the earth with a mantle of beauty with 
which "Solomon in all his glory " could not vie. 2 Here and there is a fisher- 
man who has cast off his "fisher's coat" and stands "naked" in the water 
" casting his nets," or drawing them ashore, or examining his haul, choosing 
the good, rejecting the worthless. 3 

Many travellers have spoken of the sudden and violent storms to 
which the lake is liable. This is common to all lakes surrounded by 
mountains. But the danger is greatly increased here by the depression 

1 Matt. xiii. 3-9. 2 Ibid. vi. 28-29. 3 John xxi. 7. Matt. xiii. 47, 48. 

102 



SITE OF CAPERNAUM. 



of the surface below the sea level. Gusts of wind rush clown from the 
mountains into the rarefied air below, and raise storms of extraordinary 
suddenness and fury. One of these I experienced which illustrated many 
of the details of New Testament history. I had taken a boat on a 
bright, cloudless morning, to explore the eastern shores and the point where 
the Jordan enters the lake. There was not a ripple on the water, not a 
perceptible current in the air. Almost without warning the wind rose, the 
waves, crested with foam, began to break over the sides of the boat. I was 
sitting on a cushion or "pillow" on the fiat, raised stern "in the hinder 
part of the ship" and watched the crew "toiling in rowing." But all their 
efforts were vain. They were unable to make any way for "the wind was 
contrary." At length one of them jumped overboard, and partly swimming, 
partly wading, towed the vessel ashore close to the site of Capernaum. 1 
Walking thence to our camp at Khan Minyeh we passed the probable site 
of Bethsaida {the house of fisli). Here we found the fishermen washing, 
drying, and mending their nets. 2 

At the end of a glen which ran westward from our camp is the mountain 
which tradition asserts with some probability to be that of the Beatitudes, 
and high above it, visible from every point for miles around, is the city of 
Safed — " a city which is set on a hill and cannot be hid." 3 

The hills do not rise direct from the lake but stand at a little distance 
from it, leaving a strip of shore, of varying breadth, at their feet.. But there is 
one striking exception to this rule. On the eastern bank, near to Khersa, the 
ancient Gergesa, is a steep, almost precipitous descent coming down into the 
lake itself with no intervening space between. It was here, in the very 
place which the narrative indicates, that the "herd of swine ran violently 
down a steep place into the sea." 4 

Into the disputed questions as to the topography of the northern and 
north-western shore we have not space to enter. A volume might be written 
summing up the various arguments adduced as to the sites of Capernaum, 
Chorazin, and the Bethsaidas, without arriving at a conclusive and final result. 
The balance of probability seems to me to incline in favour of the identifica- 
tion of the fountain of Tabigah with that of Capharnaum described by 
Josephus. Capernaum as the chief town of the district would stretch for 
some distance along the shore. The ruins of Tell Hum are not so far distant 
from the fountain but that they might have formed part of the city or its 
suburbs. And nowhere else have remains been found the character and 
extent of which would indicate the site of a commercial centre and great 
military station which we know Capernaum to have been. The similarity of 
name is likewise an important point. Tell is a mound of ruins ; Kefr, or 

1 Matt. viii. 23-25. Mark iv. 35-39. Luke viii. 22-25. John xxi. 7, 8. 

2 Matt. iv. 18-22. Mark i. 16-21. 3 Matt. v. 14. 
4 Matt. viii. 28-32. Mark v. I— 13. Luke viii. 26-33. 

205 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



CapJier, is a village. Tell Hum would thus be the ruined mound of the 
ancient Capher Nahum, or village of Nahum. Without presuming to dog- 
matize on the subject, the balance of probabilities seems to favour the view- 
that it was here that our Lord took up His abode on leaving Nazareth, so 
that it was called " His own country." 

Amongst the ruins of Tell Hum, the most interesting and important are 
those of a synagogue apparently of the Roman period. It was built of white 
marble, with finely carved Corinthian columns, and sculptures of the seven- 
branched candlestick, the paschal lamb, and the pot of manna. If Tell Hum 




RUINS OF ET TABIGAH (BETHSAIDA ?). 



be indeed the site of Capernaum this ruined synagogue becomes invested 
with an interest absolutely unique, for it is the only edifice now remaining 
which we can, with any probability, associate with the personal history of 
our Lord. It was here that " He taught on the sabbath days. And they 
were astonished at His doctrine : for His word was with power." Here, 
too, He cast out the unclean spirit who acknowledged Him as "the Holy 
One of God," and, amid the murmurs of the Pharisees, healed the man 
with a withered hand. 1 Whilst the ruins' are unmistakably those of a Jewish 
synagogue, the Corinthian columns seem to indicate a Roman element and 

1 Mark i. 21-27 5 «»■ I_ 5- Luke iv. 31-36. 

206 



SITE OF CAPERNAUM. 



feeling at work in the construction. It is thus, at least, a plausible con- 
jecture that this is the very edifice referred to by "the elders of the 
Jews" when pleading on behalf of the centurion they said, "he loveth our 
nation, and he hath built us the (tj)i>) synagogue. 1 " Captain Wilson, cautious 
and careful almost to excess as he is, says, "If Tell Hum be Capernaum, 




From a Photograph by the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1866. 
RUINS OF TELL HUM. 



this is without doubt the synagogue built by the Roman centurion, and one 
of the most sacred places on earth. It was in this building that our Lord 
gave the well-known discourse in John vi. ; and it was not without a certain 
strange feeling, that on turning over a large block, we found the pot of 

1 Luke vii, 1-5. The definite article is omitted in our version. 

207 



THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH. 



manna engraved on its face, and remembered the words, " I am that bread 
of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead." 1 

But we must leave, though reluctantly, this hallowed spot with its 
inexhaustible treasures of sacred associations. As we do so the words of 
McCheyne rise to our lips : 

" How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 
O Sea of Galilee ; 
For the glorious One who came to save, 
Hath often stood by thee. 

" It is not that the wild gazelle 
Comes down to drink thy tide ; 
But He that was pierced to save from hell, 
Oft wandered by thy side. 

" Graceful around thee the mountains meet, 
Thou calm, reposing sea; 
But, oh, far more ! the beautiful feet 
Of Jesus walked o'er thee. 

" O Saviour, gone to God's right hand, 
But the same Saviour still ; 
Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand, 
And every fragrant hill." 

1 ' The Recovery of Jerusalem,' p. 345. Published by the Palestine Exploration Fund. 




208 



QENNE^AHETH TO THE 30URCE£ OF 

THE JORDAN. 




^/^/ 1 climb the steep ascent which rises to 



the north of Khan Minyeh with frequent 
halts, and casting many a "longing, lingering- 
look behind;" for we know that 
when we turn the crest of the hill we 
shall have lost sight of the lake on 
whose waters we have sailed, round 
whose shores we have wandered, 
with such profound interest. The 
district upon which we are now to 
enter, though the scene of many 
memorable events, is yet barren .of 
Scriptural associations as compared 
The tribes of the extreme north played a 
conspicuous part in Jewish history under the Judges. But with the establish- 
ment of the Kingdom the chief, almost the sole, interest is concentrated in 
the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, of Ephraim and Manasseh. The records 
of the tribe of Dan are especially meagre. It contributed only one great 
name to Jewish history — that of Samson — and he belonged to the original 
settlement of the Danites in the south-east on the borders of the plain of 
Sharon. The statement in Judges xviii. 30, 31, seems to imply that even at 
this early period the children of Dan had separated themselves from the 
commonwealth of Israel and established a political and religious organization 
of their own which lasted down to "the captivity of the land." This may 
account for the remarkable omission of all mention of the tribe not only in 
the genealogical tables of 1 Chronicles ii.-xii., but also in the enumeration of 
"all the tribes of the children of Israel" in Revelation vii. 4-8. 



with the region we have left 



209 



GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. 



The contrast between what the country once was and what it is now, 
which has so often been referred to already, is most striking in the district 
upon which we are now entering. Dr. Porter says : " On reaching the brow 
of the long ascent, where the lake lies far below us, with the green valleys 
radiating from it, and the rich plateaux spreading out from the top of its high 
banks, we cannot refrain from sitting down to gaze upon that vast panorama. 
A mournful and solitary silence reigns over it. Nature has lavished on it 
some of her choicest gifts ; but man has deserted it. In the whole valley 
of the Jordan, from the lake Huleh to the sea of Galilee, there is not a single 
settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, 
from the base of Hermon to the ravine of Hieromax — a region of great 
fertility, thirty miles long by seven or eight wide — there are only some three 
inhabited villages ! The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are 
numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now 
well-nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of 
Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force — ' I will make your cities waste, 
and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. And I will bring the land into 
desolation : and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after 
you : and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall 
the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your 
enemies' land ; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.' 

Leaving the hilly country which lies on the northern side of the Lake 
of Gennesareth, we enter a broad open plain through which the Jordan 
meanders on leaving Lake Huleh, the Waters of Merom of Scripture. 

About two miles south of the lake 
is an ancient bridge called Jisr 
Benat Yakub (the Bridge of Jacob's 
Daughters). The exact meaning of 
the name is unknown. It seems to 
have originated in an erroneous tradi- 

O 

tion that the patriarch crossed the river 
at this spot when returning from his 
sojourn in Mesopotamia, and met his 
brother Esau here. But no reason 
is assigned for his daughters being 
introduced in connection with it. It 
was formerly a post of considerable 
importance, being the point at which 
the main road from Egypt and Jeru- 
salem turned westward to Damascus. Century after century invading armies 
or caravans of peaceful traders have passed to and fro along this route ; but 

1 Lev. xxvi. 31-34. ' Handbook for Syria and Palestine,' vol. ii. p. 434. 




LAKE HULEH. 



none of them have left results so deep and lasting as when, eighteen hundred 
years ago, Saul of Tarsus, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against 
the disciples of the Lord, . . . journeyed to Damascus," 1 little thinking, as 
he crossed this bridge, that he should return to preach the faith he now 
sought to destroy. 

Of Lake Huleh little was known until it was explored by Mr. Macgregor 
in his canoe voyage on the Jordan. It is a triangular sheet of water, about 
four and a half miles in length by three and a half in its greatest breadth, 
surrounded by an impenetrable morass covered with tall canes and papyrus 




THE MOUTH OF THE JORDAN, LAKE HULEH. By Permission of Mr. Macgregor. 



reeds, through which, as the Arabs declare, it is impossible even for a wild 
boar to make its way. It could not be surveyed from the shore, and until 
Mr. Macgregor's adventurous expedition no boat had ever floated on its 
waters. The additions which he has * made to our knowledge of the hydro- 
graphy of the district are of the highest value ; and his vigorous narrative 
of the difficulties he surmounted, and the perils he escaped amongst the wild 
Bedouins of the district is familiar to all our readers. 

It was in this hot, seething, pestilential, but fertile plain that Joshua, after 
the subjugation of central and southern Palestine, fought his third and last 

1 Acts ix. 1-3. 

213 



GENNESA RE TH TO THE SOURCES OE THE JORDAN. 



great battle with the hosts of Canaan. Jabin, king of Hazor, rallied round 
him all the chiefs who had not yet yielded. 1 They came from "the plains 
south of Chinneroth," the Jordan valley south of the sea of Galilee, the 
Jebusite from the fortress of Benjamin, the Hittite and the Amorite from the 
far south, to "the Hivite under Hermon," in the north. "And they went 
out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that 
is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. And 
when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at 
the Waters of Merom to fi^ht against Israel." It was doubtless the multitude 




LAKE HULEH, OR THE WATERS OF MEROM. 



of their horses and chariots, a force not possessed by Israel, which induced 
them to select this long plain as their battle-field. Suddenly Joshua and 
his men fell upon them from the heights above, and the Lord delivered them 
into the hand of Israel, who smote them and chased them far to the west, 
across the hills and valleys of Galilee, where their horses and chariots could 
only encumber them, right across the land to Zidon, utterly destroying 
them in the long pursuit, houghing their horses, and burning their chariots. 
Northward and eastward, too, Joshua chased the Hivites even to the valley 
of Mizpeh, the plain of Ccele-Syria, which extends to the entering in of 

1 Joshua xi. 

214 



THE NORTHERN SHORES OF LAKE HULEH. 



Hamath. So utter was the rout, so complete the victory, that no cities 
attempted further resistance, as they had done in the south. Hazor, the 
capital, and probably the stronghold of king Jabin, was the only place which 
Joshua burned with fire when he turned back from the pursuit. The whole 
land was now secured to Israel to the base of Lebanon, and the four northern 
tribes were settled in their allotted possessions. 

Soon after passing the northern end of the lake the snowy summit of 
Hermon, which has been previously visible at intervals for some days, 




HERMON FROM THE NORTHERN SHORE OF LAKE HULEH. 



comes full into view, and forms a fine feature in the landscape. A cool, 
refreshing breeze flows down from its glittering heights, and is doubly 
welcome in the sultry plain over which we are toiling. The contrast 
between the near and the distant landscape is very striking. The plain of 
Huleh might be a portion of tropical Africa. Droves of black, hairless 
buffaloes wallow in the swamps. The Gawarineh Arabs, almost black and 
quite naked, live in reed huts like many negro tribes, and twist their hair 
into a tuft like the inhabitants of the Gold Coast. The intense heat pro- 
duces a semi-tropical vegetation. But we have only to turn our eyes to the 
northern horizon to see a long stretch of snow as bright, and clear, and cold 
as that of Switzerland. 

zi5 



GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. 



We cross a fine old Roman bridge which spans the picturesque gorge of 
the Hasbany, and soon reach a remarkable mound or tell, from the foot of 
which gushes out a stream of water so broad and deep that we may almost 
call it a river. This is one of the Sources of the Jordan. The mound 




HERMON FROM NEAR TELL-EL-KADI. 



above it is called the Tell-el-Kadi {the Mound of the Judge), a rare instance 
of a name being retained not in sound but in meaning. " Dan " in Hebrew, 
like "Kadi" in Arabic, means judge ; and here stood the City of Dan. The 
history of the conquest is graphically told in the book of Judges. 1 The tribes, 

1 Chapter xviii. 

216 



THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. 



finding their territory on the borders of Sharon too strait for them, sent spies 
northward, who reported that "the land was very good, a place where there 
is no want of anything that is in the earth." The Zidonian colonists, far 
from their mother city, were leading lives of luxury and licentiousness ; " they 
dwelt carelessly, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure ; and there 
was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything." 
The warlike Danites burst upon them, stormed their city of Laish, conquered 
the whole territory, and transferred the head-quarters of the tribe to their 
new home. The exquisite fertility and beauty of the country justifies the 
report of the spies. But, like Lot under a similar temptation, they seem 
to have succumbed to the evil influences around them, and to have sunk 
down into a condition of semi-heathenism from which they never emerged. 
The mounds of ruins which mark the site of the city show that it covered 
a considerable extent of ground. But there remains no record of any noble 
deed wrought by the degenerate tribe, and, as we have seen, their name 
disappears from the roll both of the natural and of the spiritual Israel. 

The other main source of the Jordan rises at the town of Banias, about 
four miles from Tell-el-Kadi. At the foot of a limestone cliff is a large cave, 
formerly dedicated to the god Pan, from which the modern Arabic name of 
the town is derived. Several niches and dedicatory tablets, with Greek in- 
scriptions, cut in the face of the rock yet remain. Masses of fallen rock and 
debris obstruct the entrance and bury the actual fountain-head. From beneath 
these a stream rushes forth in wonderful strength and volume. As at Tell- 
el-Kadi, it is a river at its source. Only a few yards from the spot at which 
it emerges from its rocky birth-place, I plunged in, and found myself out of 
my depth, in a current so strong that it was difficult to swim against it. The 
torrent rushes on over a rocky bed fringed with oleanders, past the ruins 
of the ancient city, and soon is joined by its sister-stream from Tell-el-Kadi. 
The Hasbany then falls into it a few miles above Lake Huleh. The united 
waters from this point take the familiar name of the Jordan, to pursue their 
impetuous course till they are lost amid the arid shores of the Dead Sea. 

The situation of Banias is one of unusual beauty. Robinson speaks of 
it as "unique; combining in an unusual degree the elements of grandeur and 
beauty. It nestles in its recess at the southern base of the mighty Hermon, 
which towers in majesty to an elevation of seven thousand or eight thousand 
feet above ; whilst the abundant waters of the glorious fountain spread over 
the terrace luxuriant fertility, and the graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and 
waving fields." All travellers are struck by the park-like character of the 
surrounding district. Trees of great size and beauty stand in clumps upon 
the green turf. Innumerable rivulets and waterfalls give vivacity to the scene, 
and justify the epithet of Dean Stanley, who calls it "a Syrian Tivoli." 
Massive remains of Roman fortifications give to the modern village an air of 
venerable dignity. The ruined castle of Es-Subeibeh, on the peak of 



GENNESA RE TH TO THE SOURCES OE THE JORDAN. 



Hermon just above the town, is incomparably fine. Its situation, its extent, 
and the magnificent views which it commands over the fertile plains of the 
Upper Jordan on the one side, and the gorges of Hermon on the other, are 
perhaps unsurpassed in the world. 

Banias does not appear in Scripture under its present name. Robinson 




THE SOURCE OF THE JORDAN AT BANIAS. 



suggests that it is the " Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount 
Hermon," 1 up to which the conquests of Joshua extended in this direction. 
For us its chief interest is found in the fact that it was the Oesarea Philuti 
which formed the northern limit of our Lord's ministry, and the neighbourhood 

1 Joshua xi. 17. 

218 



C.ESAREA PHILIPPE 



of which was the scene of His transfiguration. 1 The monkish legend which 
placed it at Tabor is now universally abandoned. The secluded valleys and 
gorges which run from the very suburbs of the town amongst the spurs of 
Hermon afford a fitting theatre for this wonderful manifestation. It was in 
sight of the mighty mass of the venerable mountain that He proclaimed 
Himself to be the rock upon which His church should be built. Surrounded by 
the temples of Syrian, Greek, and Roman deities, with which the region was 
profaned, He declared that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. It 
was amongst these solemn solitudes that the voice was heard from heaven 
saying, "This is my beloved Son: hear Him." 

There was deep significance in the time and place at which this manifes- 
tation of Divine glory was made. It was, as we have seen, the northern 
limit of His earthly ministry. It was, too, at the close of His last missionary 
journey. Henceforward His face was "steadfastly set to go up to Jerusalem," 
for "the time was come that He should be received up." 2 He now commenced 
that pilgrimage southward of which the cross was the foreseen goal. Step 
by step along the road by which we have travelled He pressed onward, each 
step bringing Him nearer to " the decease which He should accomplish at 
Jerusalem;" of which "Moses and Elias spake with him" as they "appeared 
in glory." 3 

The thoughts and feelings excited by a visit to Palestine, find apt expres- 
sion in the words of two authors, widely separated from each other in time 
and in character. The first is a crusader, Sir John Mandeville, deeply imbued 
with the credulity and superstition of the Middle Ages. Writing more than 
five centuries ago, he says in the Prologue to his ' Voiage et Travaille ': 
" Forasmuch as the land beyond the sea, that is to say, the Holy Land, 
which men call the land of promise or of behest, passing all other lands, is 
the most worthy land, most excellent, and lady and sovereign of all other 
lands, and is blessed and hallowed with the precious body and blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ ; in which land it pleased him to take flesh and blood of 
the Virgin Mary, to environ that Holy Land with his blessed feet ; and 
there he would, of his blessedness, shadow him in the said blessed and 
glorious Virgin Mary, and become man and work many miracles, and preach 
and teach the faith and the law of Christian men unto his children ; and there 
it pleased him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us ; and he that was 
king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea, and of all things that are contained 
in them, would only be called king of that land, when he said ' Rex sum 
Judeorum,' that is to say, I am king of the Jews ; and that land he chose 
before all other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the most 
virtuous land of all the world See, now, how dearly he 



1 Matthew xvi. 13-28 ; xvii. 1-13. Mark ix. 2-13. Luke ix. 28-36. 2 Luke ix. 51. 3 Luke ix. 31. 



GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. 



bought man, that he made after his own image, and how dearly he redeemed 
us for the great love that he had to us, and we never deserved it of him ; 
for more precious goods or greater ransom might he not put for us, than his 
blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life, which he enthralled for us ; 
and he offered all for us, that never did sin. Oh ! dear God ! what love had 
he to us his subjects, when he that never trespassed, would for trespassers 
suffer death ! Right well ought we to love and worship, to dread and serve 
such a Lord, and to worship and praise such a Holy Land, that brought forth 
such fruit, through which every man is saved, unless it be his own fault. 
Well may that land be called delectable and a fruitful land, that was made 
moist with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ; which is the same 
land that our Lord promised us in heritage." 1 

The second is a writer living in our time and expressing the critical 
and sceptical tendency of modern thought — M. Renan. He says" The 
scientific mission, having for its object the exploration of ancient Phoenicia, 
which I directed in i860 and 1861, led me to reside on the frontiers of 
Galilee, and to travel there frequently. I have traversed in all directions 
the country of the Gospels, I have visited Jerusalem, Hebron and Samaria ; 
scarcely any important locality of the history of Jesus has escaped me. 
All this history, which at a distance seems to iloat in the clouds of an unreal 
world, thus took a form, a solidity which astonished me. The striking 
agreement of the texts with the places, the marvellous harmony of the 
gospel ideal with the country which served it as a framework, were like a 
revelation to me. I had before my eyes a fifth gospel, torn, but still legible, 
and henceforward, through the recitals of Matthew and Mark, in place of an 
abstract being, whose existence might have been doubted, I saw living and 
moving, an admirable human figure." 2 

The superstitious crusader and the cold sceptical critic thus agree in 
attesting the influence exerted upon them by " those holy fields." The 
devotion of the one is kindled as he visits the earthly abode of the incarnate 
deity. The intellect of the other is convinced as he traces the footsteps 
of Jesus of Nazareth. To many of the readers of this volume it may not 
be granted to gaze upon the spots hallowed by memories of patriarchs and 
prophets, and apostles, and of our Lord himself. But all may reach "the 
better country, that is, a heavenly," of which the earthly Canaan was but a 
type; all may share the vision and the blessedness of " the New Jerusalem," 
"the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 

1 ' Early Travels in Palestine.' Edited by Wright, pp. 127-28. 2 'The Life of Jesus,' by Renan, pp. 30, 31. 



INDEX. 



Abner, reputed Tomb of, 36. 
Abraham, 33, 40, 90, 136, 143. 
Absalom, 38, 48, 89, 124. 
Aceldama, 126. 
Adullam, Cave of, 47. 
Ahab, 161, 170, 177. 
Ajalon, the Valley of, 22, 80. 
Anathoth, 134. 
Andromeda and Perseus, 1 1. 
Apples of Sodom, 69. 
Arabs, the, 13, 46, 168, 175, 215. 
Araunah the Tebusite, 118. 
Armageddon, 178. 

Balaam and Balak, 64, 77. 
Banias, Gcsarea Philippi, 217. 
Barak, 172. 

Barzillai, the Gileadite, 48. 
Bazaars, Eastern, 159. 
Beeroth, Bireh, 135. 
Benjamin, 131. 
Bethany, El-Azariyeh, 83. 
Bethel, Beitin, 135. 
Beth-horon, 23. 
Bethlehem, 41, 51. 
Bethsaida, 205. 
Bethshan, Beisan, 168. 
Bethshemesh, Ain-shems, 21. 
Boaz, 46. 

Gesarea, Kaisariyeh, 165. 
Cccsarea Philippi, Banias, 217. 
Caleb, 36. 
Calvary, ior. 

Cana of Galilee, Kefr Kenna (?), 193. 
Capernaum, 196, 205. 
Carmel, 169, 177. 
Chedorlaomer, 33. 
Cherith, Wady Kelt, 52. 
Chimham, 49. 
Chorazin, 205. 

Christ at Bethany, 83 ; upon the Mount of Olives, 88 ; 
Resurrection, 102; the Lord Issa, 117; Garden of 
Gethsemane, 123 ; at Beeroth, 135 ; at the Well of 
Jacob, 144 ; at Nain, 185 ; at Nazareth, 193 ; the 
Transfiguration, 219. 

Constantine, 102, 106, 119. 

Corruption, Mount of, 124. 

Crusaders, the, 197. 

Dan, City of, Tell-el-Kadi, 216. 

David, 25, 36, 46, 51, 64, 74, 91, 131, 176. 

Dead Sea, the, 42, 59. 



Deborah, 172. 

Deutsch, Dr. Emmanuel, quoted, 84, 118. 
Dorcas, 12, 14, 18. 
Dothan, 167. 

Ebal, Mount, 143. 
Ekron, Akir, 21. 

Blah, Valley of, Wady-es-Sumt, 25. 
El Aksa, Mosque of, 97, 116. 
Eli buried at Shiloh, 141. 
Elijah, 74, 80, 82, 177. 
Elisha, 70, 74, 80, 168. 
El Muhrakah, 177. 

Emmaus, Amwas, Nicopolis, 21 ; Kulonia, 26. 
Endor, 175, 185. 
Engannim, Jenin, 169. 
Engedi, 63. 

Esdraelon, Plain of, 169. 
Eshcol, Valley of, 31. 
Ezekiel, Vision of, 56. 

Fergusson, Mr., quoted, ill, 118. 
Figs, Plucking the first, 140. 

Galilee, 181. 

Gennesareth, Chkmeroth, the Lake of, 195. 

George, St., of England, 18. 

Gerizim, 91, 143. 

German Colony at Jaffa, 17. 

Gethsemane, Garden of, 120, 123. 

Gibeon, Geeb, 22. 

Gideon, 173. 

Gilboa, 169, 173. 

Gilgal, Er Riha, 74. 

Gomorrah, 65. 

Grove, Mr., quoted, 67. 

Hebrews, Epistle to the, 107. 

Hebron, Kirjath-Arba, El Khulil, 30, 33, 91. 

Helena, The Empress, 52, 101, 126. 

Hermon, 182, 190. 

Herod Agrippa, 167. 

Herod the Great, 65, 91, 160, 165, 196, 198. 
Hezekiah, Pool of, 99. 
Hinnom, Valley of, 126. 

Isaac, 35, 90. 

Isaiah, the Prophet, 133. 

Jacob, 35, 136, 143, 210. 
James, St., Tomb of, 124. 
Jehoshaphat, Valley of, 96, 124. 
Jericho, 77- 
Jeroboam, 144. 

221 



INDEX. 



Jerusalem, First sight of, 26 ; Mount of Olives, 87 ; misery 
of, 87 ; St. Stephen's Gate, 88 ; name, 89 ; plan of, 90 ; 
Valley of Jehoshaphat, 96 ; Armenian Convent, 96 ; 
Mosque of Omar, 96, 109, 116. Golden Gate, 97, 108; 
119 ; Church of Holy Sepulchre, 98 ; Via Dolorosa, 106 ; 
Temple, 107 ; Robinson's Arch, 1 1 1 ; Wailing Place, 
112; Pool of Bethesda, 1 15 ; Temple Substructions, 
117 ; Mount Moriah, 117 ; View from Scopus, 132. 

Jezreel, Zerin, 169. 

John the Baptist at Machserus, 64. 

Jonah, 12. 

Joppa, Jaffa, 11. 

Jordan, Valley, 59 ; Fords, 69 ; Banks of, 73 ; Sources, 
216. 

Joseph, 145, 167. 

Josephus, quoted, 39, 78, 81, 97, 166, 173, 196, 198. 
Joshua, 22, 80, 90, 134, 214, 152. 
Josiah, King, 176. 

Kana-el-Jelil, 194. 
Kedron, the, 54, 84, 87, 96, 106. 
Khans, Eastern, 50, 82, 209. 
Kirjath Jearim, Abu Gosh, 23. 
Kishon, River, 172, 177. 
Kulonia, Emmaits, 26. 

Lot in the Plain of Sodom, 65, 136. 
Lydda, Pod, 18, 21. 

Lynch, Lieutenant, Exploration of, 60, 68, 73. 

McCheyne's "Sea of Galilee," 208. 

Macgregor, Mr., "Rob Roy," 208, 213. 

Machpelah, 34 ; arrangement of Tombs at, 39. 

Magdala, Mejdel, 201. 

Makaur, Callirhoe, Afac/usrus, 64. 

Mamie, 34, 40. 

Mandeville, Sir John, 219. 

Mar Saba, the Convent of, 54. 

Martyr, Justyn, of Nablus, 152. 

Mary, the Mother of our Lord, 51, 186. 

Maundrell, quoted, 59, 145. 

Mediterranean, the, 13. 

Melchizedek, 90, 98. 

Merom, Waters of, Lake Huleh, 198, 210. 

Mills, Mr., quoted, 153, 154. 

Mizpeh, Neby Samwil, 134. 

Mohammedans, 78, 96, 103, 1 19, 146. 

Mons Quarantania, 81. 

Montefiore, Sir Moses, Almshouses, 115. 

Moses, 78, 80. 

Nablus, Skechem, Sychar, 149. 
Nain, 185. 

Napoleon Bonaparte at Jaffa, 14. 
Nativity, Church of the, at Bethlehem, 51. 
Nazareth, 185. 
Nebo, Mount, 78. 

Olives, Mount of, 83. 

Omar, The Mosque of, 96, 109, 1 16. 

Palestine Exploration Fund, 6, 107, 112, 120, 155, 208. 



Passover at Nablus, the, 151. 
Paul the Apostle, 113, 267. 
Peter the Apostle, 13, 18. 
Pharaoh Necho, 176. 
Philistines, the, 25, 48. 

Porter, Dr., quoted, 149, 150, 161, 186, 210. 

Protevaitgelion, the, 189. 

Rachel's Tomb, 29. 

Ramah, Arimathea, Ramleh, 18, 98, 133. 

Renan, M., quoted, 220. 

Richard Cceur de Lion, 18, 133. 

Robinson, Dr., quoted, 21, 98, 145, 1S6, 217. 

Romans, the, 65, 181. 

Ruth, the Moabitess, 43, 47. 

Safed, Mount, 205. 

Samaria, Sebaste, 160, 171. 

Samaritan Pentateuch, the, 153. 

Samaritans, the, 145, 152. 

Samuel, the Prophet, 134, 142. 

Saul, King of Israel, 36, 175, 185. 

Scopus, the hill, 132. 

Sepulchre, Church of the Holy, 101. 

Sharon, Plain of, 14, 18, 165. 

Sheba, Queen of, 112. 

Sheep and Goats, Dividing of, 193. 

Shcchcm, Nablus, 144, 149, 160. 

Shiloh, Seilun. 

Shunem, Solem, 182. 

Si loam, Silwan, 125. 

Simon the Tanner, at Joppa, 12. 

Sodom, 65, 69, 

Solomon, 14, 30, 41, 64, 91, 112, 117, 125, 167. 
Stanley, Dean, quoted, 39, 52, 67, 116, 150, 190, 
217. 

Strangford, Lady, 92. 

Tabernacle, Plan of the, 154. 
Tabor, 182. 
Tekoa, 47. 

Tell Hum, Capernaum (?), 207. 
Temple, Site of the, 117. 
Thebez, Tubas, 167. 

Tiberias, Lake and Town of, 195, 198. 
Tirzali, Talflza, 167. 
Titus Vespasian, 196, 197. 
Transfiguration, Mount of, 219. 
Tristram, Canon, quoted, 63, 67. 

Van de Velde, quoted, 149, 150, 181. 

Wales, Prince of, at Machpelah, 39 ; at Nablus, 154. 
Warren, Captain, 87, 108, 120. 
Wilson, Captain, 1 1 2, 207. 
Wilson, Dr., 39, 169. 

Zaretan, 79. 

Zecharias, Tomb of, 124. 
Zidonians, the, 217. 
Zion, Mount, 127. 
Zizyphus Spina Christi, 69. 



222 



INDEX TO ^CHIPTIJRE WEKENCE£. 



Genesis. 






PAGE 


xi. 3 . . . 


• 65 


xii. 4-7 . . 


• i43 


xii. 8 . . . 


• i35 


xiii. ■ . • ■ 


• 136 


xiii. 10 


65, 69 


xiii. 18 


• 33 


xiv. . 


. 64 


xiv. 10 • 


• 65 


xiv. 14 


• 34 


xvi. 12 


. 165 


xviii. 1-8 . 


. 40 


XVlll. I, 2, 16, 33 34 


xix. 27, 28 


• 34 


xix. 28 . ■ 


. 40 


xxiii. 2-20 


• 34 


xxiii. 17 • 


• 39 


xxv. 8, 9 . 


• 35 


xxviii. 10-19 . 


. 136 


xxxiii. 18-20 . 


• 143 


xxxiii. 19. 


• 38 


xxxv. 16-20 . 


• 3° 


xxxv. 27-29 . 


• 35 


xxxvii. 1-14 . 


• 35 


xxxvii. 12-28. 


. 168 


xlviii. 7 . 


• 3° 


xlix. 11, 12 . 


• 32 


xlix. 27 


• 131 


xlix. 29-33 . 


• 35 


1. 1-13. • • 


• 35 


1. 25, 26 . .3 


8, 144 


Exodus. 




xiii. 19 


• 38 



xiv. 21 ... 79 

XXV. IO-22, 29 . 156 

xxvi. 15-25 . . 156 

xxxvii. 1-8, 16 . 156 

xxxviii. 3 . . 156 
xl. 12, 22-25, 3°- '56 



Leviticus. 



xxvi. 31-34 . . 


210 


Numbers. 




ii. 11-27 ■ 


156 


xiii. 22-27, 3 1 * 33 


136 


xiii. 33 . . . 


36 


xiv. 6-24 • 


36 


x.\ ii. 24 . 


78 




78 


xxiv. 21, 22 . 


64 


xxxii. 1 . 


77 


xxxii. 12 . 


36 


xxxii. 20-28 . 


79 


xxxiv. 11 . 


197 


Deuteronomy. 


ii. 17 . 


197 


xi. 29, 30 . 


144 


xxvii. 12, 13 . 


144 


xxxii. 14 . . 


77 


xxxiii. 12. 


13 1 


xxxiii. 18-24 


182 


xxxiv. 3 . 


77 


xxxiv. 1-3, 7 . 


78 


xxxiv. 5, 6 . 


79 


Joshua. 




iii. 16 . . . 


79 




74 




74 




80 



Joshua. 




page 


vi. 26 . 


77 


vn. ... 80, 82 




80 


viii. 33 . . . 


144 


ix. 3-15, 17 . 2S 


, 23 


ix. 17 . 


135 


x. 1 . 


90 


X. 6, 7. . ; v ■ 


22 


X. 8-27 . . . 


23 




214 




197 


xi. 17 . 


218 


xiv. 6-15 . 


36 


xv. 9, 60 . ■ 


2 3 


xviii' 3 i 






74 


xviii. 14-28 . . 


2 3 




181 


xxi n 


33 


xxiv. 32 . . 38, 


144 


Judges. 




i. 16 . . . . 


77 


iii. 13 . . 


77 




*73 


v. 23 . . . . 


178 


vi., vii., viii. . 


175 


ix. 7-20 . 


144 


ix. 50 .... 


167 




43 




216 


xviii 30 11 . 


209 




43 


xxi. 15-23 


141 


xxi. 19 


140 


Ruth. 




i. 20, 21 . 


45 


ii. 4, 14, 17 . . 


46 


111. 7, 15 • • • 


46 


iv. 1-12 . 


46 


1 Samuel. 




i-iii 


142 


v. 2 ... 


34 


vi. 12, 13 . 


21 


vi. 21 . 


23 


vii. 1, 2 . 


23 


vii. 5-16 . 


r 35 


x. 8 ... . 


74 


x. 17-24 . . . 


135 


xi. 15 . 


74 


xvi. 7, ii, 12, 18, 




23 ... . 


46 


xvii 


25 


xvii. 12, 28, 34- 




37, 42 . . . 


46 


xxii. 1, 3, 4 . 


47 


xxiii. 29 . 


64 


xxiv. . . , M . 


64 


xxvi. 20 . 


48 


xxviii. 3-25 . 


185 


xxviii., xxxi. 


I76 


2 Samuel. 




i 


I76 


ii. 2-1 1 ... 


36 


iii. 22, 39 . 


36 


iv. 12 . 


37 


v. 6-8 . . . . 


9i 


y. 9 . . . . 


9i 


ix. 11. , • • 


49 



2 Samuel. 

page 



PAGE 


xi. 21 . 


167 


XV. JO . 


38 


xv. 30 . 


88 


xvii. 27-29 


48 


xviii. 1 ... 


124 


xix. 15 


74 


xix«3i _ 4o . . 


49 


yvh; tR.oc 

A A IV. JO *j • * 


118 


i Kings. 




11. 7 .... 


49 


ii. 11 . 


36 


ix. 11 . 


181 


x. 4, 5 ... 


112 


x. 27 . 


9 1 


xi. 4-8 


125 


xii. 1, 25 . 


144 


xii. 26-33 • 


136 


xiii. 1-5 .. . 


136 


xiv. 17 ... 


167 


xv. 20 


197 


XV. 21 . 


167 


xvi. 6, 8, 15, 23 . 


167 


xvi. 23, 24 


360 


xvi. 29— xxii. 40 


171 


xvi. 34 . . . 


77 


xvii. 1-7 . 


82 


xviii 


177 


xviii. 21 . 


178 


XX 


160 


xxi. 1-19 . 


161 


xxii. 31-34 


161 


2 Kings. 




ii. 1-14, 19-22 


80 


ii. 22 . . * . 


St 


iv. 8-37 . . 


185 


v. 12 • 


70 


vi. 2-5 ... 


70 


vi. 8-18 . . . 


169 


vi. 24 — vii. 20 


160 


ix. 27 . 


169 


x. .... 


171 


1 Chronicles 




ii.-xii .... 


209 


iii. 1-4 


36 


viii. 12 


18 


xi. 4-6 


9i 


xi. 16-19 . 


48 


xiii. 5 . 


23 


2 Chronicles. 


ii. 16 . 


12 




118 


x. 1 .... 


144 




33 


xxviii. 15 . 


77 


xxxv. 22-25 . 


176 


Ezra. 




il: 33 • • ■ • 


18 




12 


Nehemiah. 




xi. 35 . . . . 


18 


xiii. 28 


153 


Psalms. 




xxii. 12 . 


77 


xxxiv. 7 . 


169 


xlvi. 4 


4i 



Psalms. 



page 

xlix. 14 . 193 
lxv. 12, 13 . 41, 190 
Ixviii. 27 . 132 
lxxviii. 60 . . 142 
lxxxiv. 2, 3 . . 116 
cxxxii. 6 . . .23 
cxliv. 1 ... 46 

ECCI.ESIASTES. 

ii. 4-6 .... 30 

Song of Solomon. 

i. 10 . . . . 169 

i. 14 . . . . 64 

ii. 1 . . . -14 
vi. 4 . . . . 167 

Isaiah. 

v. 1, 2 . . . . 32 

vi. 11-13 ... 17 

x. 28-34 ■ • -133 
xxviii. i, 2 . . i6r 

xxxii. 15, 17 . . 56 

xxxiii. 9 ... 14 
xxxv. 2 ... 14 
xii. 8 .... 33 
lxv. 10 ... 14 

Jeremiah. 

iv. 7 .... 17 

vii. 12 . . . . 142 
ix. 11 . . . . 17 
xii. 5 . . . . '. 7a 
xxvi. 6 142 
xxvi. 9 . . . • 17 

xxxiii. 10 . 17 

xxxiv. 22 17 
xii. 17 ... 49 
xlix. 19 ... 59 
1. 44 • ■ ■ • 59 

Ezekiel. 

xxxix. 18 . . . 77 
xlvii. 1— 12 . . 56 

HOSEA. 

ii. 22 . . . . 170 

iv. 15 . . . . 74 

ix. 15 . . . . 74 

xii. 11. . . .74 

xiii. 16 161 

Amos. 

iv. 4 . . . .74 

v. 5 .... 74 

Jonah. ■ 
i. 3 .... 12 

Micah. 

i. 6 .... 161 
v. 2 .... 51 

Zechariah. 

xi. 2 . . . .77 

Matthew. 

i. 5 .... 80 

ii. 5, 6. . . .51 
ii. 14 . . . . 38 



Matthew. 



1'AGE 


iv. 13, 18-22 . 


197 


iv. 18-22 . 


205 


V 


197 


v. 14 ... . 


205 


vi. 28, 29 . 


202 


vii 


197 


viii. 23-27 


197 


viii. 28-32. 


205 


ix. 1, 9 . . . 


197 


xi. 20-24 • ■ • 


197 


xiii. 


197 


xiii. 3-9 .. . 


202 


xiii. 47, 48 


202 


xiv. 12 . 


161 


xiv. 15-21. 


197 


xiv. 25 


197 


xv ; 32-39 . 197, 


201 


xvi. 13-28. 


219 


xvii. 1-13 . 


219 


xix. 1, 2 . 


81 


xxi. 18, 19 


140 


xxi. 33 . . . 


32 


xxiii. 35 . . . 


124 


xxv. 32 


193 


xxvi. 3 


92 


xxvii. 7 . 


126 


xxvii. 25 . . . 


"5 


xxvii. 31, 32, 39, 




41. 48, 55.59. 6 o io 5 


xxvii. 39, 40, 51 . 


107 


xxvii. 56-61 . 


201 


xxviii. 1 . 


201 


Mark. 




i. 16-21 


205 


i. 21-27 


206 


iii. 1-5 . . . 


206 


iv 


197 


iv. 35-39 • ■ • 


205 


iv 37-41 . . . 


197 


v. 1-13 


205 


vi. 29 . 


161 


vi. 48 . 


197 


ix. 2-13 . . . 


219 


x. 1 . 


81 


xi. 12-14 • 


140 


xii. 1 . 


32 


xiii. 1, 2 . 


107 


XV. 20, 21, 29, 31, 




36, 40, 46, 47 . 


105 


xv. 29, 30, 38 


107 


xv. 40 . . . • 


201 


xvi. 1-11 . 


201 


xvi. 3, 4 . . . 


127 


Luke. 




ii. 40, 52 . . . 


193 


ii. 42-50 . . . 


135 


iv. 28, 29 . 


186 


iv. 29 . 


190 


iv. 31-36 . 


206 


vii. 1-5 . . . 


207 


vii. 1-15 . . . 


1 8 S 


viii. 2, 3 . 


201 


viii. 22-25. 


205 


viii. 23-25, 


'97 


viii. 26-33. 


205 


ix. 30, 31 . . . 


80 


ix. 28-36, 51 . 


219 


x. 13-15 . . . 


197 


xiii. 6-9 . 


140 


xviii. 35-43 . . 


81 


xix. 1-28 . 


81 


xix. 42 


87 



Luke. 




page 


xx. 9 . . . . 


32 


xxn. 39 . 


00 


xxiii. 26, 40, . 

........ — , t^ly JJ 


105 


xxiii. 45 . 


107 


xxiv. 2 


127 


xxiv. 10 . 


201 


xxiv. 13-35 . 21 


, 26 


John. 




ii. 1-11 


194 


iv 


144 


iv. 9-23 . . . 


I20 


iv. 46-54 . 


194 


v. 1-9 . . . ' . 


"5 


vi. 19 . 


197 


vi. 24-71 . . , 


197 


vii. 37, 38 . 


"7 


vii. 42. 


5i 


xi. 1 . 


197 


xi. 25 . . . , 


84 


xviii. 3 


123 


xviii. 28 . io5t 




xix. 3 . . . . 


106 


xix. 20 


104 


xix. 25 ... 


201 


xix. 17, 41, 42 


1 05 


xx ; 1-18 . 


201 




197 


xxi ' 2 


'93 


xxi. 7 . . 


202 


xxi. 7, 8 . 


205 


Acts. 




iii. 1-11 


108 


vi. 16 . 


38 


viii. 1-25 . 


161 




167 


ix. 1-3 ... 


213 


ix. 30 . 


167 


ix. 32-39 • • ■ 


l8 


ix. 36-43 ■ • ■ 


*3 


x. 1-18 


J 3 






xi. 11 . 


167 


xii. 19 . 


167 


xvi 


167 


xviii. 22 . 


167 


xxi. 8, 16 . 


167 


xxiii. 23, 33 . . 


167 


xxv 


167 


xxvi 


167 


Philippians. 






132 


Hebrews. 




iii. 12 ... 


77 


x. ig, 20 . 


107 


x !:.3°, 31 ■ • • 


80 


xiii. ii, 12 104, 


107 


James. 




ii. 23 . . . . 


33 


2 Peter. 




ii. 8 .... 


6S 


Revelation. 




vi. 13 . • . 


I40 


vii. 4-8 


20g 


viii. 3 . . . . 


156 


xvi. 12-21. 


178 


xxii. 1, 2 . 


56 



223 



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